Sometimes, the tool is the tool and sometimes, the tool keeps the tool working. That is the case here. In our equation the tool is the AR-15, the most popular rifle in the United States. As with many vital tools, any rifle is a collection of parts working together and an MSR is no exception.

Aside from proper training and practice, the AR-15 needs regular cleaning and maintenance. Readers will have the cleaning tools in their home or shop to keep their guns clean and will most likely have the tools needed to make repairs, but what happens if the gun goes down in the field? Real Avid has a solution that will make cleaning, maintenance, and basic repairs more manageable at the range and in the field.

Real Avid is a tool company that specializes in firearms. Their cleaning gear is the best I have used, and their tools range from simple repair to complicated gunsmithing tasks. My bench cleaning and maintenance is handled by the Universal Master Cleaning kit, and I have two of their multi-tools, the AR-15 version of the Gun Core Tool and our subject here, the AR-15 Tool multi-tool.

Unlike your average Letherman or Gerber multi-tool are meant to be useful for many tasks. Maybe not the best tool for a task, but good at many tasks and easily available. In this case we have a tool dedicated to one task, keeping your AR-15 in good order. There is another version of this tool for shotgunners and other rifle shooters that provides tools specific to them, but this one is for AR owners.

It has a selection of 37 tools to cover cleaning and maintenance tasks that are faced in the field. You will also be able to make basic repairs such as stripping, fixing, replacing parts, and reassembling the parts that are field serviceable, such as the bolt carrier group.

The multi-tool comes with a coyote tan sheath to hold the tool, a set of extra bits, and a sight tool for four and five tine AR front sights. It can be attached to your gear with the MOLLE strap.

Check out the photos included with this article for a complete look at the tools included.  I am impressed with the quality of the AR-15 tool; it makes an excellent addition to a prepper’s tool kit. A tool like this can make life easier when you need it most.

Survival and survival have very different meanings to people. One of the more common interpretations is the classic image of a person or persons surviving in the wilderness. In fact, most survival schools and publications focus on this aspect of survival. The term survivalist has often been misrepresented by the media as describing extremist, paranoid, and even potentially dangerous individuals.  The term has also been misappropriated by various political and religious extremist groups. The public is easily misled and confused about what survivalists and peppers are all about. The core value of true survivalism is the concept of self-reliance and self-responsibility under high-stress conditions. Only people and families that can take care of themselves can be able to help care for others. Self-reliance is a core American value and self-reliant families are the foundation of a strong and free society. No one should be ashamed to be a survivalist. The confusion about what a survivalist is usually relates to where and how the philosophy of self-reliance and the methods of survival are applied. With over fifty years of experience in all aspects of survival organizing and training I have identified four different categories of survivalist configuration.

Outdoor & Wilderness Survival

  This is the most commonly understood idea of “survival.”  People often come to survival programs expecting to learn how to build fires and shelters and are confused to find classes on urban survival, nuclear survival, or home preparedness.  Most “survival” school focus on this aspect of survival. Fire making, shelter building, field navigation, signaling for  help, edible plants, primitive trapping, fishing, and hunting are all part of this category. Some groups focus on using only the most primitive (flint and steel) methods, while others use more up to date methods. These skills can be fun to learn and use and may be essential in some situations, particularly for those who work or engage in outdoors recreational activities. Live Free USA started out as an outdoor sports club doing just this kind of training.

Back to Basics & Self-Reliance Survival

  This approach to survival is founded on seeking an off-the gride, back to basics lifestyle as an alternative to dependency on a failing and potentially collapsing civilization. Most practitioners  locate or relocate to rural or even wilderness locations where they build cabins, establish small farms, and use solar and wind power. These methods can be applied to urban and suburban residences, but with severe limitations and risks. Backwoods Home magazine with its canning recipes, goat husbandry, and cabin building tips is an example of this division of the survival matrix.

Disaster Preparedness & Survival

  This is the most universally, applicable, and valuable element of survival.  Disaster comes in all sizes and severity, but no-one is immune from their effects. This is the wing of survivalism that developed to concepts of the Bug Out Bag, Survival cache, and many other civilian based survival programs. This aspect covers storms, evacuations, medical emergencies, street crime, home fires, grid failure and many other disaster threats.  The term “prepper” is often applied to those who focus on general disaster preparedness. The increase in the severity and frequency of disasters combined with the declining budgets and capabilities of government response agencies should make this aspect of survival preparedness well accepted and supported by the civilian population. Live Free USA supported a variety of Civil Defense programs back in the 60’s,70’s and 80’s and continues to advocate and educate for public preparedness.

Collapse & Chaos Survival  

 There is no such thing a “Dooms Day Survivalist” but there are worst case survivalists. No one wants ‘dooms day” but no one can deny that the world is getting more dangerous and unstable every day.  Conventional war is spreading while nuclear war is far more likely than a few decades ago.  China is waging economic and technological war against America every day that can only lead to disaster in the near future. Drones and hypersonic missiles open every American city to the same hazards that Isreal, Gaza, Russia, and the Ukraine face now.  War time, war zone and even combat zone survival are once again a key element in survival preparedness and education. Back in the 1970’s through the 1980’s Live Free programs trained for these nuclear and “Red Dawn” scenarios.  Such training is needed even more today but is less acceptable to the public and media.

What Kind of Survivalist Are You?

  While each of us may identify with a different category of survivalists we all share common philosophical values and concerns. While we prepare to survive even the worst case situations, we also accept responsibility for our family, neighbors, and communities.  Real survivalists are just responsible citizens doing their duty.   Considering the developing world conditions and grave threats to life and freedom, survivalist may be the only hope for the future.

I spent the morning of December 21^st watching the new movie from faith based Angel Studios, “Homestead.” Based on the book “Black Autum” by Jeff Kirkman and Jason Ross, it details the characters response to a combined nuclear and cyber-attack on America. The movie tells the story of Ian Ross and his Mutual Assistance Group and their retreat property, “Homestead.” Be forewarned, there will be spoilers.

In this article I want to dig into some of the questions that the story raises for survivalists/preppers, but a few words about the movie are in order. As a movie fan, I appreciate good writing, good direction, and good acting. For the most part I find that studios of this nature do not have any of these. That is not the case here.

All of the aspects of this movie are on par with the best prestige television productions. It is not quite up to the standards of a good theater movie, but it is far better than some of the movies that I have spent money to sit in a theater and be bored by. I generally find that the message of most Christion faith films to be heavy handed, but that is not the case here.

Homestead tells the story of the collapse of American society following a combined terror attack on the US consisting of a nuclear event just offshore from Los Angeles and a cyber-attack that renders the East Coast without power. These events cause a collapse of the US government and a nationwide panic.

The Homestead is the survival retreat built by Ian Ross (Neal McDonough) and several families designed to keep them safe should an event like this happen. The other lead is Jeff Erickson (Bailey Chase), retired Navy Seal who has been hired to put together a security team for the property. The Ross family has built a place, and a system meant to support the people who will be living there with power, water, and food supplies as well as a small arsenal of firearms for protection. It is basically the dream set-up for survivalists.

The meat of the story is the practical and moral questions that are raised by the movie. These questions are important ones that need to be answered when making survival plans, before the world as we know it ends. First, at what point are we justified in using deadly force to defend ourselves. Second, should we lock down and keep friends and family who did not prepare or should we risk running low to save them.

The question of when to use force in self- or group-defense is a complicated one. Despite what one might think, a post-collapse situation makes the use of force even more complicated. In today’s environment the courts will sort out a defense situation. The defensive shooter should be cleared of any charges if they are justified in using force. In a post-collapse situation, where there are no courts to sort it out. In the movie there is a situation where people from outside accidentally wonder into Homestead property while hunting. A lack of a proper means of communications end with one of the hunters being killed by one of the Homestead members.

In the story, the person in question has to live with the results of his actions. It is correctly called an accident, but in the end, children are left without a father, and a wife is without a husband when they most need him. This is a situation that can be avoided through proper communication with the community around the property. It could also be avoided by placing those with more experience in perimeter security and crisis management.

The further consequences would likely come from the friends and family. They would most likely view it as an unjust killing and seek redress. I a world without courts, that redress might come in the form of an assault the property and more needless deaths.

The solution? Clear lines of communications before and after the event and well defined rules of engagement. Building a relationship with the surrounding community will allow group to define what the community can and cannot expect. It will give you a chance to encourage them to prepare for themselves and their family so that they can survive without outside help.

How incursions into the property are handled require very well defined rules of engagement and are an absolute necessity. How you communicate with intruders will define how the encounter ends. What you are aiming for is a peaceful resolution in the worst situation and not a violent encounter. If the group is very lucky, it may lead to new allies.

This takes us to a second major situation. What do you do with the friends and family at the gate. In the movie, when the country starts to collapse, friends of the Homestead family and people from the surrounding community start to line up at the gate looking for help. This is a real world question that all survivalists will face in a collapse.

Most people today, especially in America, are under the impression that the worst will never happen. As long as they have their video games, junk food, and televised sports, they continue to live their lives like it will never end. When it does, they will look to the prepared for help. How do we respond to this?

It comes down to two choices. Do you run them off or do you bring them in to add their skills to the community. Wandering into spoiler territory here, the movie suggests the latter. The Christian thing to do, it suggests, is to be charitable and bring them in. It is a boon in the end because some of these folks have skills that are lacking in the community, and they solve some important problems.

The movie is fiction, but it is close to what can be expected in a real collapse. Taking people in will reduce your supplies and can be detrimental to the survival of the members of community. On the other hand, if the people that you bring in have skills that will be important to the community, then they might improve the groups chances. This becomes a question of practicality versus morality and where a group falls between the two will have a profound effect on a community.

These are the most important issues in the situation the movie presents, but they do touch on others. One character suffers from a mental illness, I suspect Bi-Polar Disorder, but it is never clearly defined,  that requires regular medication. How would this be handled? In the short term a stash of meds provided in a legal manner will keep the person in good health. After they run out a plan will be needed to properly handle the symptoms.

Then there is local government. A plot point is the local bureaucrat attempts who exerts his power to confiscate the supplies and weapons of the Homestead for “the good of the community.” As the story of Homestead is continuing with a series on the Angel Studios streaming service, I think that this will become a bigger plot point.

The questions that come to my mind is at what point has the Government truly collapsed? When does a local bureaucrat become a warlord bent on control? What will happen if the community comes into armed conflict with local government, win, and society makes a comeback? This last question is one brought to my mind for the first time by the movie. It seems that survivalists, me included, make their plans around a permanent collapse. In reality, a society will be rebuilt from the collapsed one, but it is just a likely that our society will rebuild itself. If it does, there may be legal issues to deal with if these kind of situations happen.

Unlike most post-apocalyptic movies, this is not only based on real world possibilities, but also on a series of books by Jeff Kirkham, a Green Beret who founded Readyman survival tool company with 29 years of experience, and Jason Ross, a serial entrepreneur who has spent his life learning survival skills. They took this experience, built a real world scenario, and applied their knowledge to the solutions used in the movie.

Every once in a while, I come across a bit of fiction that has a little bit of truth in it, but it is very seldom that it causes me to think this deeply into the questions that it raises. Dean Ing’s “Pulling Through” comes to mind because the second half of the book provides instructions on building the tools used in the fiction. “Homestead” does not delve into skills or techniques, but it raises some important questions that should cause viewers to think more deeply. It is also my hope that unprepared people who go to see an action movie will give what they see some thought and start to be a more ready.

The movie is a good piece of fiction that I enjoyed. The Christian part of the message is not heavy handed and takes a moral position that I think most people will understand. If you are putting together a preparedness plan, watching this movie should give you food for thought while enjoying a pretty good movie.

This article was originally published on Ready Magazine and is published here with permission. All images are courtesy of Angel Studios.

Survival situations always involve serious ethical and moral decisions.  Wartime and combat zone survival create even greater challenges to established “right-or-wrong" paradigms. The ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine illustrate these difficulties. Even on American soil, we see demonstrations and seemingly unresolvable issues developing on our streets and in our communities. As wartime conditions grow closer to home, and the specter of a true World War Three looms on the horizon, what will be considered right, wrong, justified, or necessary requires considerable thought and examination by responsible citizens preparing for this “worst case” scenario. 

 The concept of ethics is distinguishable from morals, in that ethics are much more practical. Morals are ideas or opinions driven by a desire to do good; ethics are rules that establish allowable actions and correct behavior.  An ethical code may or may not be definably “moral,” as it is simply an established set of rules. Under normal circumstances, a citizen has pre-established moral principles and ethical standards provided by society and its laws. Under wartime chaos and warzone violence, citizens will be faced with moral dilemmas and ethical conundrums, without guidance. 

While the trained solder has orders to follow and a chain of command to sort out moral and ethical conflicts, the civilian caught in a life-and-death combat situation must make decisions and cope with conflicting emotional consequences alone.  Survival ethics is guided by the basic survival imperative, but the ethics of survival in wartime and in a warzone is more complicated. The difference between right and wrong can be clouded by ideological, ethnic, racial, religious, and national affiliations. One’s proximal, social, or family relationships render philosophical “neutrality” unfeasible.  While natural disasters or a singular foreign enemy may unite a population, more complex modern conflicts can create all manner of division, paranoia, and distrust.

Under wartime deprivations, normally honest and law-abiding citizens may resort to theft or black-market dealings.  Citizens with weak moral codes and selfish tendencies are inclined to commit a full range of criminal acts once the prohibitions of effective law enforcement are removed.  Soldiers and citizens exposed to the violence and trauma of actual warfare often become desensitized or even malevolent and violent as a result.  It is no accident that gangs of the Wild West, and the Gangsters of the Roaring Twenties followed the Civil War and World War One. War releases the most terrible inclinations of humanity.   Be aware that there are “nice people,” but there are also people who are just “being nice.”  Ultimately, the citizen must establish his or her own code of ethics. A few examples of ethical and moral challenges follow. 

War Zone Ethics 

By James C. Jones 

“What a cruel thing war is …to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors.” 

General Robert E. Lee (1807 – 1870)  

Survival situations always involve serious ethical and moral decisions.  Wartime and combat zone survival create even greater challenges to established “right-or-wrong" paradigms. The ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine illustrate these difficulties. Even on American soil, we see demonstrations and seemingly unresolvable issues developing on our streets and in our communities. As wartime conditions grow closer to home, and the specter of a true World War Three looms on the horizon, what will be considered right, wrong, justified, or necessary requires considerable thought and examination by responsible citizens preparing for this “worst case” scenario. 

 The concept of ethics is distinguishable from morals, in that ethics are much more practical. 

Morals are ideas or opinions driven by a desire to do good; ethics are rules that establish allowable actions and correct behavior.  An ethical code may or may not be definably “moral,” as it is simply an established set of rules. Under normal circumstances, a citizen has pre-established moral principles and ethical standards provided by society and its laws. Under wartime chaos and warzone violence, citizens will be faced with moral dilemmas and ethical conundrums, without guidance. 

While the trained solder has orders to follow and a chain of command to sort out moral and ethical conflicts, the civilian caught in a life-and-death combat situation must make decisions and cope with conflicting emotional consequences alone.  Survival ethics is guided by the basic survival imperative, but the ethics of survival in wartime and in a warzone is more complicated. The difference between right and wrong can be clouded by ideological, ethnic, racial, religious, and national affiliations. One’s proximal, social, or family relationships render philosophical “neutrality” unfeasible.  While natural disasters or a singular foreign enemy may unite a population, more complex modern conflicts can create all manner of division, paranoia, and distrust.  

Under wartime deprivations, normally honest and law-abiding citizens may resort to theft or black-market dealings.  Citizens with weak moral codes and selfish tendencies are inclined to commit a full range of criminal acts once the prohibitions of effective law enforcement are removed.  Soldiers and citizens exposed to the violence and trauma of actual warfare often become desensitized or even malevolent and violent as a result.  It is no accident that gangs of the Wild West, and the Gangsters of the Roaring Twenties followed the Civil War and World War One. War releases the most terrible inclinations of humanity.   Be aware that there are “nice people,” but there are also people who are just “being nice.”  Ultimately, the citizen must establish his or her own code of ethics. A few examples of ethical and moral challenges follow. 

• Use of force: Police are often caught in a lose-lose scenario: using force can be seen as brutality, and not using force can mean failure in their duty to the law and the community. For the citizen, the question is this: “Is the use of force—or threat of force—justifiable and reasonable under the current circumstances?”  You may need to use force against family members or neighbors, to get them out of harm’s way, or to prevent their obstinance or obliviousness from endangering yourself and others. You are doing the seemingly wrong thing, but for a good reason.  
   
• Use of deadly force: Using any kind of deadly or potential deadly force is an extremely drastic action.  Unfortunately, modern media and video games have trivialized killing and desensitized the public.  No responsible citizen should look forward to taking a human life, but during the gravest extreme of wartime, such an act may be inescapable.  Terrorists imbued with hatred and extreme views will kill innocent civilian men, women, and children without the slightest hesitation.  Criminals simply have no moral code or empathy for victims. 
   
  Previously peaceful citizens enraged, shocked, or misled by wartime and warzone conditions may become predators.  If deadly force is the only way to save yourself and others, be mentally prepared to do it. Failure to act may result in the death of yourself and those you care about.  Regardless of the justification, using deadly force will probably result in a lifetime of guilt and regret.  
   
• Looting and foraging: During periods of civil unrest, looters are simply opportunistic criminals using excuses to justify theft and destruction, but in some cases such illegal and immoral behavior may be fully justified. Should cold and homeless refugees from a bombed city pass by an intact home along the road? Should groceries be left on the shelves of an abandoned store while children are hungry?  One example of laws vs ethics is a case where elderly were being evacuated from a flood. The local Fire Department was prohibited from “opening” the convenience store across the street to access supplies for the patients even though the flood waters would soon destroy the supplies. If it makes you feel better leave an IOU. 
   
• Taking sides: During World War Two, it was simple as allies versus Nazis and “Japs”. Your side was determined by your location. In today’s fractured, globalized, and multiethnic society, factionalism, regionalism, and media-generated division can cause hostile and potentially violent conflict between friends, neighbors and even family members.  At one time, Jews and Arabs lived peacefully in Palestine.  South Koreans have family in North Korea. Russia and Ukraine have much in common. Once violence has been initiated by one side and responded to by the other, they become implacable enemies. This is a horrible situation. If you don’t pick a side, everyone will regard you as an enemy and your situation will be untenable.  Of course, acts of hate, brutality, violence, and oppression by one side may help you make your choices.   
   
• To help, or not to help: Should you share your food, water, and medical supplies with friends, neighbors or strangers who have not prepared themselves?  Should you stop rendering aid to the injured if it puts you or your family at risk?  These are two classic survival ethics questions.  There is no absolute right-or-wrong answer, but the “do what you can, if you can, when you can” ethical principle applies. Note that police are trained to bypass injured civilians and move on to neutralize the threat. You cannot be your brother’s keeper unless you are able to be your own keeper.   

Establishing your Code of Ethics  

Survival ethics come down to life and death: yours, and that of others you encounter. Do you save life, risk life, or take life? A primary question that everyone must answer is: how do you define your life?  Are you what you are physically, or who you are, morally and spiritually?  Are you about how you look and what you have, or are you about what you believe in and stand for?  While your body is mortal, your values and ideas are immortal.  So, does your survival action justify your continued physical survival, or does your survival alone justify your action?  Is what’s best and safest for you also best and safest for what you stand for? 

In survival, laws are not an issue. You are left with your own moral code and ethical concepts to make life and death decisions. You must ask yourself: 

• What is the right thing to do, based on my values? 
• What is the best thing to do for me? 
• What is the best thing to do for others? 
• What represents my values and ideas? 
• What is my duty?  
• Would I want others to do this to me or for me? 
• How will others I care about judge my actions? 

 Yes, the answers to each question may be conflicting!  What can you do? What should you do? What do you want to do?   In the heat of a survival situation there will be no time to engage in a philosophical discussion. Most true survival situations are about risking your life or risking or taking the life of others.  You must have an idea of where you draw the lines.   In a situation where you may need to choose to risk or even sacrifice your own life, when would you do it? 

• Never—even if it would protect those I care for or values I stand for? 
• Only if absolutely necessary to protect the lives of others that I care about? 
• To defend the life of others being attacked or abused? 
• Only if necessary to defend my values and ideas? 
• Only if necessary to remain free? 
• To defend my property? 
• To maintain my pride and honor? 
• Rather than live an unpleasant life? 

If you know when you would be willing to put your own life on the line, have you established when you would take a life or put the life of others at risk? 

• Never—not even to defend my life and that of those I care for? 
• Only in the immediate defense of my life and those I care for? 
• To defend the life of others being attacked or abused? 
• To defend my personal freedoms and rights? 
• To defend my values and ideas? 
• In order to remove potential threats to my life and freedom? 
• To defend my property and lifestyle? 

 For the purposes of the above questions, taking or risking life is not just about shooting or being shot at.  Risking your life could be the act of sharing your food, entering a danger zone to rescue someone, or stopping to help instead of moving along. Taking life could be as simple as failing to aid others who are in need of the food or water they need to survive.  

    We may look at our moral code as a compass that directs us towards the right action, but ethics is the map that guides our route.  Ethical choices must be free of fear, anger, hate, pride, and other negative emotions. Flexibility and adaptability are key concepts in survival psychology.  Rigid moral codes, while valuable assets during “normal” times, may conflict with survival imperatives under emergency conditions. The lines between right and wrong can become blurry in the heat of survival and conflict. What can you live with, and what would you die for? 

The true survivor must know him or herself and have a firm ethical foundation upon which to base life-and-death decisions.  How and why we survive is as important as that we survive.  These kinds of situations have only lose-lose solutions, but they are easier for those who have considered them in advance balancing the risks and values.  Many such decisions will be difficult to live with—regardless of the outcomes.  

While the concept of “everyday carry” goes back to my “Coat Pocket Survival” article from the 1980’s, the available options and the potential emergencies have changed significantly. What passes for “normal” life has become more dangerous, and the potential for more violent situations and even nuclear war are inescapable.  

It is usually impractical to carry a full survival kit or pack as we go to our jobs, shopping, or social activities, but the truly prepared citizen must have some essential survival response items on hand at all times. Most disasters strike without warning and may happen when we are far from our home, our survival gear, and our supplies. The concept of everyday carry is to have a few items on-hand that will give you a chance and an advantage. 

The survival principle of “It’s not what you have, but what you have with you that counts” applies here. Because of the added complexity of today’s survival threats, and the impending war, I have created three levels of everyday carry. 

Everyday Carry Level One 

  This level is adequate for what we now call “normal” times. The items included are intended to address a variety of natural emergencies such as storms, earthquakes, fires, accidents, and assaults. These items can generally be kept in pockets or a purse without attracting attention or being uncomfortably bulky.                                                                                                   

• Pocketknife: Depending on the clothing you wear, this can be a small two-inch blade or a larger three-inch blade. Good “survival folders” come with a seatbelt cutter and a glass breaker for escape and rescue work. Some even include a flashlight and a magnesium fire starter. A knife imparts a major survival advantage in many situations.  
• Cell Phone: These still have utility if services are functional. If you live in an urban area, you may want to carry a second, fully charged “throw away phone.”  Most carjackers and robbers will want your phone, so give them the throw away and use the other to call 911 after they depart. Even if they get the good, connected phone you can still call 911 on any charged cellphone.  
• Mini Flashlight: Do not depend on your cellphone for light. Miniature flashlights could be critical in a blackout or smoke-filled building. They can even be attached to your key ring.  
• Whistle: A loud whistle can attract the attention of rescuers far better than your voice. 
• N95 folding Respirator:  Safe air is the first need of survival. When buildings are falling, things are burning, biohazards are in the air, or radioactive fallout begins, these basic respirators will offer some protection. While they do not protect against poison gases or chemicals, they are better than nothing when immediately at hand. Charcoal-impregnated N95 masks provide limited protection against chemical contaminants. 
• Fire Starter: While small magnesium fire starter sticks can spark a fire with dry tinder, a flame beats a spark in most cases. A simple butane lighter can get a fire started or provide a bit of light as needed. The torch-like lighters are very effective and safe. 
• Bandana: Cloth bandanas can be used as bandage, tourniquet, improvised respirators, and other survival devices.  
• Defense Device: Your choice here depends on your environment and lifestyle. Any kind of loaded firearm around children is an invitation to disaster. Safety first, but if this is not an issue a sub-compact firearm is certainly an everyday carry need in many locations. Taser and pepper spray devices are better than nothing but are seldom effective when you’re surprised by one or more assailants.  

Everyday Carry Level Two 

  This level brings a significantly higher level of daily preparedness to confront violent and prolonged threats that might develop during wartime. These items can help you cope with civil disorder; organized assaults; chemical, biological, and nuclear hazards; and the necessity to flee through high threat environments.  

Items can be distributed in pockets, pouches, or a vest without attracting much attention or being too bulky for everyday activities. In addition to the N95 mask, whistle, cell phone and bandana, the following items are added. 

• Multi-tool: You can replace the knife or have this in addition to your knife. These tools enable the owner to improvise, repair, and escape. They come in a wide variety of sizes and tool combinations. The bigger the better.  
• Rain Poncho: A small plastic rain poncho can provide protection against wind, rain, and airborne contaminants. Just staying dry can prevent hypothermia. Keeping chemicals and fallout off the skin can be critical. Not as good as a full body covering, but a big advantage over nothing.  
• Tourniquet Device: At this threat level, there is a serious chance of major injury. All police and military personnel now carry tourniquets. These come with a handy belt or ancle pouch.  

• Hand sanitizer: A small bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer can be used to help start a fire, clean off contaminants, and sanitize wounds. 
• Water purifier: Hydration is critical, but you may need to use questionable sources. Having a few water purification tablets can provide some protection. They also make water safer for flushing and cleaning wounds.  
• Larger flashlight: A larger, five- to ten-LED flashlight is advisable. Some come with adjustable beams and colors. 
• Firearm: At this level, always carrying a firearm is just common sense. There are plenty of compact handguns with six- to ten-round magazine capacities. Carrying at least one extra magazine is advisable.  

Everyday Carry Level Three 

  At this level, the items are intended to help survive when actual warzone conditions develop. Such conditions could include shootings, explosions, fires, interruption of water and food, rampant civil disorder, ad-hoc medical services, and even radioactive fallout. These items are intended to provide immediate and basic needs to facilitate survival, escape, or evacuation in a worst-case scenario. 

Short of carrying a full survival pack and dressing like a combatant, a butt pack or a shoulder pack will probably not attract undue attention under these conditions. In addition to the aforementioned whistle, N95 mask, bandana, and cell phone, the following additions and upgrades create the level three everyday carry list.  

• Heavy duty poncho: A larger vinyl poncho that is more durable and effective will be necessary if you need prolonged protection from the elements and contaminants.  
• Rescue Blanket: These aluminized blankets will provide additional protection for you or another person and can offer shelter and warmth for cold weather. They are a must for shock or hypothermia victims.  
• Eye protection: Flying debris, dust, and contaminants can endanger your eyesight and introduce infections. Normal glasses are insufficiently protective. A pair of folding goggles will be helpful.  
• Energy Bars: A high-stress survival scenario may require prolonged exertion; exhaustion can render you vulnerable. A few energy bars can provide nourishment and comfort.  
• Water Bottle: Carrying at least a pint or two of water is worth the burden under these conditions. There are bottles that include a filtration system, or you can carry purification tablets to refill your bottle as needed.  
• Multi-band Radio: Small, multi-band radios are available can be tuned to emergency channels, citizens Band, and even pre-established family or group communications networks. This may be your primary information and communication source when cellular systems, commercial radio, and TV networks go down.  
• Monocular or Binocular: A small monocular will give you a chance to see trouble before you encounter it. Are those friends, or potential assailants? Is that a safe route? What’s leaking from that rail car? Is he carrying a gun?  
• Tactical Flashlight: You will want a heavy-duty, military grade flashlight with at least 2000 lumens of brightness and an adjustable beam. There are plenty of options available.  
• Mini-First Aid Kit: In addition to the torniquet, you can add a variety of hemostatic blood stopper dressings, self-adhesive bandages, antibiotic ointments, and pain relivers.  
• Firearm(s): At this point, the sight of an armed civilian should not be unusual. A full-sized handgun with at least four extra magazines may be necessary to get you south of a serious situation. Learn how to change magazines under fire. If things get bad enough, carrying a pistol in a holster and/or carrying a rifle or sub-rifle may be considered normal and justified for every day.  

Conclusion 

  You can add or combine items as needed to create an everyday carry system that meets your needs and environment. The key to survival is having what you need, where you need it, when you need it. Everyday carry means every day and all the time, starting now. If you only carry some items, sometimes, Murphys law will get you.  

Nine people were killed in violence across Chicago over a 24-hour period from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning. The large number of slayings would be unusual on a warm summer weekend and is startling for a late-winter weekday.

Most of the victims were killed in shootings. They include a 15-year-old girl and a man, both killed while sitting in a car in Roseland, and a 53-year-old man shot to death in a fight on a CTA bus on the West Side.

Last issue, I discussed staying warm—at home, or at your bug-out-location. This month, I want to talk about what to do if you are on the move. There are some crucial differences between staying warm in a fixed location versus on the move that should be considered. 

While equipment and knowledge of fuels is the most Important consideration in a fixed location, you will be much more reliant on skills while moving. Your choice of fuels will be much more limited, due to issues such as weight, availability, and volatility. With these kinds of limitations, your skill set becomes more valuable. 

The deeper your skill set, the less you will have to carry with you—however, this isn’t to suggest the right choice of equipment is unimportant. Let’s talk about heat sources, briefly, before we move on to skills. The three most common fuels that you will use are wood, propane, and isobutane. Small heaters are available that burn both propane and isobutane, and if you use either for cooking, then one of these is a good consideration. 

In most of the US, you can rely on salvaged wood or similar materials found in nature. This is why my preference is for wood burning stoves—such as the Biolite stove—and the skills to build, start and manage a fire. There are also portable, wood burning, hot-tent stoves which have become popular in recent years. 

Stoke the Fire Inside 

We have all heard the survival rules of three, and the assertion that we can live for three weeks without food. In a perfect world, this is true; survival situations, however, are not part of a perfect world. If it is cold, your body will burn calories to stay warm; the colder it is, the more you will burn. Your first step to staying warm on the move is to eat enough food to maintain calories. Your second step is to use those calories wisely. 

For most of us, most of the time, a high-fat, high-calorie diet is a bad suggestion; when surviving a bug-out, especially in the cold, it becomes vital. When you get cold, you shiver. This is your body trying to produce heat to protect your core. This burns calories at a higher rate than normal, which you must replace quickly to increase your chances of survival. 

Packing three days of high-quality, high-calorie, nutrient rich meals and snacks is an important part of your plans. Freeze-dried and retort (MRE style) foods are formulated to provide these kinds of meals for backpackers, outdoorsmen and women, and the military, whose hobbies or profession demand fuel to keep them going. These attributes, combined with the generally long shelf life of these foods, make them an excellent choice.  

Doing what is needed to reduce calorie use is just as important as carrying food. Clothing, shelter, and external heat reduce your body’s need to burn calories. Skills may be more important on the move, but the ability to think critically in planning and in a survival, situation is one of the most important skills. 

Start The Fire 

Starting a fire should be the top priority when building a camp. That is true at any time, but is even more true when you are risking hypothermia. Developing strong fire skills (and an even stronger sense of safety) is one of the most important things a survivor can do to improve their chances. 

Every YouTube channel discusses fire kits, but the ones to watch are those that show you how to use them. When you put together a fire kit, you should be able to use (and, in fact, should have already used) every item you include. For example: most matches have little value in a survival situation. They do not, for the most part, hold up to storage or humidity. They do not burn long enough, and if you are using the “strike anywhere” type, you run a minute risk of self-ignition. Some, like the lifeboat style matches from UCO and other sources, are designed to stand up to this kind of abuse and will burn when wet, even submerged, once lit. How are you to know what to expect if you have not tried them? 

Other forms of ignition require even more advanced knowledge and practice to use effectively. The critical point is that you practice with your tools beforehand. When the time comes, your practice will be rewarded with a warm fire. You should also develop some skill with primitive techniques for starting a fire. None of these are easy to do, but working through the bugs now will give you a head start for when the chips are down. 

Contain the Heat 

Once you have warmed up, it is necessary to find a way to contain the heat you generate. We have discovered many ways to do this since our ancestors walked into the first cave and wrapped the first animal skin around themselves. At some point, humans discovered fire, and shortly after that, we discovered that fire consumes fuel, and then, that containing the heat reduced the amount of fuel needed to keep warm and to cook our food. 

There are some basic ways we contain the heat that we produce. On the most personal level, it is clothing that preserves the heat we produce by burning calories. Clothing keeps this heat trapped near our bodies in the insulating dead air space between the body and the clothing we wear. In the infancy of human civilization, it was the hair left on the animal skins that trapped air pockets near the skin where heat could be stored. 

Over the ages we have discovered more and better ways to insulate ourselves from the cold. Choosing the right clothing for the environment is one of those critical decisions that make up proper planning. The selections available today are many and run the gamut from cheap and useless to expensive and toasty warm. In-between, you can find your sweet spot of affordability and usefulness. 

You should consider an approach to clothing based on layering. Start with an inner base layer—typically some type of “long underwear.”  Then, choose a shirt and pants in moderate weather conditions, followed by a good jacket or coat as the weather gets cold. In conditions of extreme cold and/or wet you will want a waterproof shell layer, top and bottom, to keep the wind, water, and cold out. 

The materials the clothing is made of are just as important. Natural fibers, such as wool and silk, make good choices—especially Morino Wool. There are synthetics that are just as good, but there is something comforting about natural fiber that I enjoy. Wool will insulate even when wet, and while it smolders, it does not burn, making it safer than synthetics. 

Wool, especially Morino wool, is not cheap. The further away the layer is from the skin, the more synthetics make sense because they can be found at better prices. Materials such as polyester, nylon, and Polartec insulate very well and can be found inexpensively on the surplus market. Commercial versions, such as those found at REI, are more expensive but just as useful. A polar fleece layer over the base layer, then pants and shirt, will keep you warm in much of the US during the most common weather conditions. Snow, cold rain, and high elevations such as you will find in northern mountainous regions and Alaska call for a water- and wind-resistant outer shell to protect from harsh weather.  

Wearing your clothing in layers gives you choices as the weather changes. If you are going to be outdoors in cool temperatures—say, between 60 and 40 degrees—a base layer and a regular clothing layer should be enough. As temperatures drop, add a fleece layer to increase the insulating value. When it starts to get really cold or wet, an outer shell keeps the wind and rain out. When the temps start to climb again, you can remove layers until you are comfortable again. Too much insulation for the temperature will cause you to sweat—which will, in turn, cause you to lose vital heat to evaporation. 

Build Your Environment 

The next step is to build and control your environment. This is where all the training and skill building really pays off. There are three basic stages to building shelter that will keep you warm: One, sleep on something. Two, sleep under something. Third, sleep in something. Let’s take a look at what this means. 

The first step is to put some insulation between the ground and your body. There are numerous sleeping bags and pads that provide protection from heat loss through conduction, the tendency of heat to flow from a warm object (you) to a cool object (the ground).  

On the other hand, in most environments, you can use natural debris piled and layered to create the same level of protection without the need to carry excess equipment. By creating a deep bed of these natural debris, you make a warm and comfortable place to lay your head. All this dead air space will slow the transfer of heat to the ground.  

I will add one of my wool blankets over a debris bed for a little extra insulation. The same can be done with a sleeping bag, That is your choice, but you should use a layering approach here, too: A bed of insulation, and then a system to sleep on. Building with natural materials will let you drop the sleeping pad, but either way, you need that layer of bedding to sleep on. 

The second step is to put some insulation over you. This is your sleep system, and there are a lot of choices available. Just like the insulation below you to keep conduction from sapping your heat, you need a layer above you to keep radiation and convection from doing the same. A sleeping bag or some blankets will trap your body heat or the warmth that you have created near your body as you sleep. 

What if your situation is unplanned? The same idea behind the insulated bed will apply to reducing heat loss from above. A layer of natural debris above can take the place of a sleep system in an emergency. This might not be ideal, but it could help save your life in a survival situation. 

Step three is to have something to sleep in. If you planned ahead, you will have packed some form of shelter. With a tent or tarp in your kit, you will have a head start on shelter. The most important reason to carry shelter with you is the conservation of calories. All work burns calories that must be replaced, and setting up a tent uses less work than building from scratch. On the other hand, tents or tarps do not contain heat as well as a constructed shelter stacked with insulation. 

If you have the skills to construct a shelter from natural materials, this will provide you with a shelter that contains heat generated by your body or an outside source. In warmer weather, a lean-to will shelter you and catch a lot of heat.  

You can even bring some of the heat inside the shelter if you do so carefully. There are portable heaters fueled by propane or isobutane that will warm up the space if you choose one that is designed to be used safely inside. 

There is also the choice of lightweight wood-burning stoves, designed for backpacking, that will not only heat your shelter, but they will also provide a cooking surface for food prep. They require either a tent designed for them, or specially constructed shelter. A tent with a stove jack for the chimney stack, or an opening in your shelter are required to use them safely. They can also be expensive, and even though they fold down, they still take up a good amount of space in a pack.  

If you are relying on your survival skills to heat a shelter, there are some techniques that will help. Once you have built a fire, you should keep as much of the heat created from escaping into the air as possible. Place your fire as close to the entrance as possible, so that heat will enter the shelter. Heat can also escape from the other directions as well, so a reflector can be built to contain and redirect the heat into your shelter. 

You can also bring heat directly into your shelter. Gather as many fist-sized rocks as you can find from any place but a water source. Pile 10 or 12 of them in your campfire to heat all day as you go about other tasks. This technique will be most useful with an enclosed shelter such as a debris hut, so while you are building it, dig a pit near the entrance. Make sure that you have dug it deep enough to remove any combustible materials that might smoke and ignite during the night. 

This pit is your overnight heater. Before you turn in for the night, fill it with the rocks from your fire. These rocks will slowly release the stored heat and keep you warm throughout the night. This can also work for you with tents that do not have a floor, in at least a section of it. Make sure you are careful to allow enough space around the pit to keep the heat from damaging the materials of the tent. 

In Conclusion 

As you can see, with proper planning, critical thinking, and skill building, it can be relatively easy to stay warm on the move. If you spend the time to learn these techniques and develop a plan, you will travel to your bug-out location in as much comfort and safety as possible. 

I will finish by suggesting a couple of book series that will help you learn these skills. Tom Brown’s Field Guide series focuses on primitive skills using few if any equipment to survive. Dave Canterbury’s Bushcraft books teach skills for use with minimal woods crafting tools. 

Long before there were any devices specifically made for survivalists, Live Free members recognized the need for some kind of digging tool in the survival pack. A shovel would be needed to dig fire pits, drainage trenches around our tents, and dispose of waste. We might even need to dig shelters from weapons fire, nuclear blasts, and fallout. Back in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, surplus “Army Shovels” were plentiful, but too heavy for carrying any distance. They were excellent digging tools but were meant to be carried and used by healthy young soldiers for short distances to the front lines. After World War Two, every child in my neighborhood had one, and we trenched and tunneled every vacant lot we could find. We early survivalists started adopting garden trowels to put into our packs as BTN (better than nothing) digging tools. In the 1980’s, The Vietnam-era military folding shovels that came out were lighter and more compact than the old army shovels, and could be carried further, but were not designed for civilian survival applications.  

Recently, a wide variety of so-called “survival shovels” have come onto the market. These shovels range from basic folding shovels for about $15.00 to the complex GRAMFIRE™ ones for over $200.00. Survival shovels* are defined as relatively compact, while having multiple functions, such as ax blades, saw blades, hooks, and wrenches. Like many items designed to do more than one thing, they are never quite as good as just a shovel, just a knife, just a saw, et cetera; however, they are useful for their multi-functionality.  

The 15-in-1 Multi-Function, Folding Shovel from Stealth Angel™ sells for a very reasonable $34.95. The shovel blade is very heavy-duty and includes a saw blade, sharp ax-knife blade, hook, and two hexagonal wrench cut-outs. One handle segment contains a small knife, fork, and saw blade, and another segment contains a Philips and blade screwdriver. There is also a glass breaker point and a compass in the handle. A magnesium fire starter comes attached to the carrying strap and case. The whole thing fits into a 9” x 6” x 2” cloth carrying case that weighs about two pounds. When all four segments are fully assembled, you have a strong 30-inch-long shovel tool. The heavyweight handle and sharpened spade also make for a formidable weapon and effective rescue tool. There is a bit of room left in the handle for a few extra items. I don’t advocate this for a primary survival pack item since you should already have a multi-tool, knife, fire starter and other tools with you, and there are lighter, smaller shovels available. It is ideal for carrying in a vehicle, keeping at your jobsite, or in a cache where you might need all of these functions.  

Fully assembled shovel with carrying case. 

Four components on carrying case. Note the compass, glass breaker and fire starter. 

* I covered a variety of survival shovels in chapter five of The Ultimate Book of Survival Gear. Published by Skyhorse Publishing. 

When considering a firearm as a prepping tool, we have some requirements that need to be fulfilled beyond how much you like the firearm you are selecting. As a prepper, this is just another tool in your toolbox, and for the weight and space it takes up in your gear load out it must provide usefulness in your mission to stay alive.

A lot of people will assume that your firearm is one of the most important tools in your kit, but this is far from true. A good knife is probably the most important tool you can carry, and then fire, water, and shelter will be much more important in this kit if you want to survive in a hostile SHTF environment.

This firearm must provide certain enhancements to your journey and be quickly put into action when needed, without being cumbersome to the rest of your kit. Again, each piece of your kit has a job and are only allowed to add weight and take up space in your kit because of what it provides.

I agree with another contributor to this newsletter, Mr. Travis Warlock, that the 22LR caliber does a particularly good job. The ammo is light, plentiful, low cost, and comes in many different designs or intended versions.

It is easy to carry and can be made Hollywood silent with the right selections of accessories. If you need to use this tool, the next consideration is whether it brings attention to you or where you are. Normally, this would be detrimental to your survival as a single person or in a small family unit unable to go wage war on those attempting to maraud you or your supplies.

Looking at the tool and its design helps us select certain firearms over others. This is a very individualized process. There may be considerations based on an individual’s body type, ailments, or other limitations. As you read other survival authors’ suggestions on this subject, the Henry survival rifle and the Ruger 10/22 typically make the top of their lists of recommendations. Both are great tools with many different upgrades available to them. The Ruger 10/22 platform has an en- tire industry built around it, with all kinds of upgraded parts available. The Henry survival rifle even floats when in storage mode. I would suggest you look past these models to a more compact tool that is easier to clean and carry with you everything else you need to survive during your journey. I feel a pistol is an easier tool—both to carry, and to access on the trail. You can overcome the limitations in its design by practicing and learning about its capabilities. The pistol can be carried in a holster or pouch on one’s belt, or somewhere in the front of their load-carrying gear. It could even be carried out in such a way that no one would know what it was, and it would still be available immediately if needed.

The pistol I would suggest is the Ruger 22/45 MKIV pistol, with some accessories to complete its mission in your kit. This model of firearm is very popular, with aftermarket parts and upgrades available: everything from trigger packs to magazine enhancements and assorted parts. The Ruger MKIV is noticeably light, handy, and can be carried with an extra 10-inch barreled receiver if you want to get the most out of the cartridge in your kit. I would select the much shorter 5-inch tactical barreled receiver, but there are plenty of different configurations on the market to choose. The short- er barrel lengths will provide a quieter firearm and employing the 10-inch barrel gives you the most velocity possible from the little 22LR cartridge, enhancing accuracy when needed. The 22LR cartridge builds velocity up to about 11 inches of barrel length; after that length, the little cartridge will actually slow down, because the powder has all been burnt up. The shorter tactical barrel is threaded for a suppressor and also has rails on top and bottom for both a red dot and a flashlight. Both items will enhance the usefulness of this tool in your toolbox.

In addition to the aforementioned accessories, I would also put a lanyard loop of some sort on it to keep the tool in your kit when climbing over tree trunks or through tunnels. You can enhance the internal parts with the addition of trigger packs, or an extractor from Tandemkross or Volquartsen. Getting a 22 LR suppressor for this tool makes it much more useful if needed. You can also disable the magazine cut-off with aftermarket parts, and putting magazine bumpers on your mags can make them survive the added abuse of a SHTF situation. This pistol can be broken down with the push of a button and would only require a basic cleaning kit to maintain it in the field. All-around, this pistol provides a great selection to your INCH or BOB or get home kit and is worth the space and weight it takes up.

A firearm is not a necessary part of your kit but can be a welcome addition to your toolbox. Using something that is dependable, plentiful, and customized makes it an enhancement and not a liability in the end.

In conclusion, each tool in your kit— including the firearm—is part of your last-ditch effort to survive whatever calamity you have been put through, and you should scrutinize the worthiness of each tool’s place in your kit.

Survival food storage has been the subject of numerous articles and books since the early Cold War days. There are plenty of videos and lists available today. There are also a lot of misconceptions and sales driven programs that can be confusing and discouraging to the citizen prepper. In this article I will try to sort out the most important concepts and priorities of food stocking and storage.

The first thing that must be done is to create a long-term plan for building up your food reserves. The plan must take into account how much space you have for storage, how much you can budget for each month and whether you will be able to shelter in place or need to evacuate in an emergency. You should probably have at least several months of food at home, and a week’s supply of food in an evacuation pack for every family member. If you anticipate a “never coming back” evacuation, you need to establish food caches with relatives,group members or at storage facilities well outside the danger zone. I recommend a mix of canned, dried,ready to eat, freeze-dried, and bulk grains rather than depending on just one type of survival food.

Canned Goods

Canned goods are relatively cheap,palatable, and easy to use. It’s easy to build up a supply, date each can and rotate your stock. I have eaten canned goods stored for many years, but canned food will lose its nutritional value over five to ten years, and of course, any dent-ed or swollen cans must be discarded.Stock up and rotate things you like to eat,but include meat such as canned corned beef, and yes Spam. Some canned foods become unpalatable if stored too long or stored in poor conditions so rotate regularly and keep them in cool dry conditions. High acid foods such as fruits will eat through the cans after four or five years so rotate these often, keep them in glass jars or depend on dried fruits.

MREs

Meals Ready to Eat military rations are ideal supplements to a survival food stockpile, but not an economical or practical choice for a primary component.They are heavier than most freeze-dried meals sold for camping, and more costly than alternative dried, canned, and bulk food stuffs. Their self-heating system has advantages for evacuation packs and survival food caches.

Bulk Grains

Bulk grains such as wheat are often pushed by survival food vendors as the only thing you need to survive in a long-term disaster, and they certainly have their place as part of a plan. If you are going to store wheat, you must store it in a sealed, dry container, preferably vacuum packed, and safe from insects. You also need to have a good quality grinder to process it into flour. Start looking at recipes and trying to make bread. Stock up on things like baking soda, sugar, and yeast so you can use the flour. Consider stocking more oats and rice that are easier to use as food. Some experts recommend storing hundreds or even thousands of pounds of grains as food and for barter.

Dried Pasta, Beans and Peas

Pasta is cheap and nutritious. If stored in sealed containers it can last several years, and if vacuum packed, it can last for decades. While it loses some nutrition over time, it still provides a highly edible meal. Stock some spaghetti sauce to go with it. Dried beans such as navy beans, pinto beans, split peas, and black-eye peas are economical and store well if kept in cool dry conditions. Vacuum packing is best. Beans and peas can get mold if allowed to become moist. Like grains, you need to have other components and seasonings to make palatable meals with them.

Freeze-Dried

I used a lot of freeze-dried meals back when I was into rock climbing and winter camping. Most of my evacuation pack foods are Mountain House™ meals, but I also have two MREs in case I can’t stop to boil water. If your space is limited,then freeze- dried may be a good option,but it’s costly, and requires fuel to boil water and a good supply of water. The portions in most of these meals is a bit skimpy and not enough to sustain you under high stress conditions. You will need supplemental nourishment.

Other Stuff

I have talked about peanut butter before. Peanut butter keeps well and has about 6000 calories per 40 oz. jar. This is why children gobble the stuff up. Don’t worry about additives and sodium, this is survival. Honey is another great concentrated source of nutrition that can be kept indefinitely. Canned nuts store well and provide a lot of nutrition per pound.I once ate canned sardines that had been in a buried cache for 25 years. The oil preserved them well and they tasted normal, but I cannot verify the nutritional value.

Conclusion

Regardless of the current state of your survival food stocks, you need to continue to build it up, as more and more potential disasters loom and the economy worsens. Don’t just focus on bulk. Your stored food should be things you and your family like to eat. Don’t depend on sheer hunger to drive you to eat unpalatable food or eat the same thing day after day. Stock up seasonings and sauces.Know how to prepare a variety of meals with what you have. You may still need to forage for some foods and use less than optimal foods. I include beef and chick-en bouillon cubes, salt, pepper, and hot sauce in my survival pack for this reason.

Recommended Reading

“How to Prepare Your Family for Every-day Disasters and Worst-Case Scenarios” by Lisa Bedford.

The worst-case scenario in a survival situation is bugging out on foot with what you can carry on your back. Preparing a bug-out bag is a common process for preppers just in case we have to make a run for it in a dire situation. While plan A would be to shelter in place and plan B would be to have a vehicle set-up, plan C is the pack stuffed with survival necessities.

The planning of a BOB should be a well thought out process with information and ideas gathered from many sources. One source that should be seriously considered in backpacking. Camping is still camping, one turns up at a wonderful place in the wilderness, sets up camp, and enjoys the scenery and solitude. Backpackers, on the other hand, carry all their gear on their backs and move over land from a starting point to a finish to see more over the course of their trip.

There is a lot that can be learned from backpackers that will come in handy when planning a BOB. The backpacking industry and the people who sling a pack on their backs are nothing if not innovative. Over the years companies have developed gear using modern materials that are both lightweight and strong, much more so than the gear our fathers and grandfathers had. There are also interesting skill sets that backpackers use that are relevant for us. Let’s take a quick look at some.

Leave No Trace

There is an ethic among many backpackers to “Leave No Trace” on the land that they travel. To many, this may sound a little new age, but it has real-world survival implications. If a person has to leave one place and move to another for safety, there is a chance that they are under threat and being tracked. Getting into the habit of following the “Leave No Trace” ethic leaves fewer clues to where they are going.

Light and Ultra-light Weight

Distance backpackers, especially thru-hikers, want to carry as little weight as possible. The industry has responded with gear that is lighter and stronger than ever before using materials such as Titanium, Dyneema, and carbon fiber. This kind of gear has been a boon for backpackers and can be for preppers as well. The drawback is the expense that comes with it, but if you want the best, you have to pay for it.

Clothing

Some of these innovations have been about making clothing both warm and light. New shell materials, new insulation fills, and acrylic fleece have replaced heavier clothing from the past. Wool, especially Merino wool, is woven in such a way that it is not scratchy and uncomfortable against the skin. These modern innovations will give users a lot of choices.

Food and Water

This is an area of great innovation. Freeze-dried foods have been with us for years, but today you can make your own. It’s expensive, but home freeze-dryers are available to one and all. My friends at Swartz Foods built a business around these devices and they are producing some of the best I have had. There is also retort packaging, such as is used in MREs, and it is being used commercially for quality foods that do not require water to prepare them and are lighter than canned foods.

Boiling and various tablets were once the way to purify water, then came filters. Over the years filters have gotten more effective and less expensive. Hollow fiber membranes are less expensive to manufacture so there is a series of filters based on them that give everyone access to a way to have clean water.

A new innovation in clean water is portable ozone generators. These are electronic, USB charged devices that generate ozone from oxygen and this ozone kills most biologicals. I have been testing a pen model from Roving Blue that has been excellent. I have used to purify water and I have not had a single issue.

Tips and Tricks

There are too many to really talk about here but check out the plethora of books that will teach many tricks that will make a bug-out safer and more comfortable. One such trick is sprouting in your backpack. A package of Alfalfa or Mung bean seeds, a dedicated wide-mouth bottle and some coffee filters gives you a micro-green garden that you carry with you. A quick search on Amazon will provide you with a long list of books on the subject.

Conclusion

These are just some of the ways that learning from backpackers can improve our survivability. Applying these ideas and using the innovative equipment that has come out of the industry can help you be prepared. It can also be a fun hobby that will improve and increase your skill set.

The post What Can We Learn from Backpackers About Preparing for a Bug-Out. first appeared on Ready Magazine.

This review comes to us from James C. Jones, the founder of Live Free USA, based on his more than 50 years of experience in preparedness and survival.

Long before there were any devices specifically made for survivalists, Live Free members recognized the need for some kind of digging tool in the survival pack. A shovel would be needed to dig fire pits, drainage trenches around our tents, and dispose of waste. We might even need to dig shelters from weapons fire, nuclear blasts, and fallout.

Back in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s surplus “Army Shovels” were plentiful, but too heavy for carrying any distance. They were excellent digging tools but intended to be carried and used by healthy young soldiers short distances to the front lines. After World War Two every child in my neighborhood had one, and we trenched and tunneled every vacant lot we could find.

We early survivalists started adopting garden trowels to put into our packs as a BTN (better than nothing) digging tools. The Vietnam era military folding shovels that came out in the 1980’s was lighter and more compact than the old army shovels and could be carried further but were not designed for civilian survival applications.

Recently, a wide variety of so-called “survival shovels” have come onto the market. These shovels range from basic folding shovels for about $15.00 to the complex GRAMFIRE for over $200.00. Survival shovels* are defined by being relatively compact while having multiple functions such as ax blades, saw blades, hooks, and wrenches. Like anything that is designed to do more than one thing, they are never as good as just a shovel, just a knife, just a saw, etc. but handy as being multi-functional. The 15-in-1 Multi-Function, Folding Shovel from Stealth Angel sells for a very reasonable $34.95.

The shovel blade is very heavy-duty and includes a saw blade, sharp ax-knife blade, hook, and two hexagonal wrench cut-outs. A small knife, fork, and saw blade are integral to one of the handle segments and a Philips and blade screwdriver are. Built into another segment. There is also a glass breaker point and a compass in the handle. A magnesium fire starter comes attached to the carrying strap and case.

The whole thing fits into a 9” x 6” x 2” cloth carrying case that weighs about two pounds. When all four segments are fully assembled you have a strong 30-inch-long shovel tool. The heavyweight handle and sharpened spade also make for a formidable weapon and effective rescue tool. There is a bit of room left in the handle for a few extra items. I do not advocate this for a primary survival pack item since you should already have a multi-tool, knife, fire starter and other tools with you, and there are lighter, smaller shovels available. It is ideal for carrying in a vehicle, keeping at your jobsite, or in a cache where you might need all of these functions.

* I covered a variety of survival shovels in chapter five of The Ultimate Book of Survival Gear. Published by Skyhorse Publishing.

The post Guest Review: Super Shovel first appeared on Ready Magazine.

 Jerry Buis passed away at his home in Snyder Indian on July 8, 2023.  Jerry was one of the four original camping club kids that founded the Ticonderoga Sports Club that evolved into Live Free USA.  Jerry was an officer in Live Free for decades, and was a first aid instructor and headed the Survival Medics group through the 80’s and 90’s.  He was an avid hunter and fisherman.  Jerry also worked as a Red Cross volunteer and worked at disasters throughout the United States.  He shared many campfires and adventures with Live Free members throughout the years and was a key factor in developing Camp Independence in the late 1960’s. He will be sorely missed by us all.  He is survived by his wife Pat and daughter Patricia who are also active with Live Free.

Note: This is the second founder to pass away in the past twelve months, and the sixth core group member lost within the past three years

There are a number of books on preparedness. The worst of them are a book sized list of stuff that you need to get to be ready. The best of them cover not only gear, but skills and mindset as well. “Prepared: A Manual for Surviving Worst-Case Scenarios” fits in the latter category.

In this book, Mike Glover teaches readers how to be ready for whatever comes their way. Drawing on his most dire experiences in combat and in the real world, this book shows you how almost no disaster is more powerful than someone who is truly prepared.

Mike Glover is the owner and founder of Fieldcraft Survival, a preparedness and training company in Utah. He is a retired Green Beret and CIA contractor and a proponent of preparedness for citizens. He offers training in a growing range of topics that are of value to students. He is also a prolific presence on YouTube, producing videos and podcasts with useful information.

I knew this book would be an important read when I found out it was on the way, but as with any writer who owns a business selling related products, I worry that it would be a sales driver for his products. I was wrong. He refrains from specific suggestions. The few times he does mention a product of his own it is more in the way of demonstrating a thought process than a sales pitch.

The real beauty of this book is it’s emphasis on critical thinking. Each chapter begins with a run down of his thought process concerning the issue at hand. While he never explicitly says it, seems clear to me he holds creative thinking in high regard as well. If you can think critically, you can solve most problems, if you can add a creative element to the process, you can innovate.

The first four chapters of the book are about thinking and planning. He has done his research too. The book starts with the biological and mental processes that people go through in a crisis. He goes on to share examples of how people reacted in crisis and what the results of their decisions were. By this point of the book he has shared some foundational events in his life, and he uses this self-knowledge to describe the events.

The following three chapters apply these ideas to planning, situational awareness and, possibly most importantly, decision points. One of the hardest parts of planning is knowing when to put your plans into motion. When you’re facing a hurricane, it’s an easy decision, but what about greater threats? I feel that the bigger the decision in a crisis and the more “out there” the issue, the harder it is to make the move. These three chapters are helping me to build a better plan.

The last three chapters are more inline with what one would expect from a preparedness book. He discusses a layered system of preparedness in the areas of Everyday Carry, Mobility, and preparing the Homestead, or as I like to call it, bugging in. While he does talk about a few brands that he likes, he approaches this section by applying the critical thinking skills from the first half of the book.

I believe this is an important book for preparedness. Mike Glover leans on real world experience and real research to teach the reader how to get ready. He is more interested in getting readers to think critically about equipment decisions than he is in selling products. If you need to know about his suggestions about gear, tune in to his social media presence. If you want to under the thought process and planning behind it all, read his book. You won’t be sorry.

The post “Prepared: A Manual for Surviving Worst-Case Scenarios” by Mike Glover first appeared on Ready Magazine.

Radio Activities is produced in collaboration with Music For All, which promotes liberty and self-reliance in the arts.

Before the Internet, there was a global communication network in place that was completely decentralized, largely peer-to-peer, and virtually indestructible. That network was known as shortwave radio, and it still exists in parallel to our modern telecommunications infrastructure—along with CB, GMRS and a number of other radio systems. While HAM radio operators can both transmit and receive over shortwave, this article will focus on "SWLing", or shortwave listening, and alternative radio signals in general.

I was 10 years old when my grandfather gifted me my first shortwave radio. I would sit there for hours, carefully, slowly turning the dial and listening for signal. I heard Chinese news, Slavic folk music and dispatches from remote, tropical islands. The T.V. went off by 8 pm in our household, lights out by 9. Sitting under the covers with that radio, slowly turning the dial and traversing continents, I felt like I had entered a portal to another dimension.

Radio has a presence and immediacy not found on the Web. When you listen, you know that other people, somewhere, are listening to the same message and precisely the same time as yourself, so it's a kind of live, shared experience. It's also an important way to obtain real-time information in an emergency, and alternative viewpoints. Unlike most radio, which is line-of-sight, shortwave signals bounce off the upper atmosphere and back down to Earth, enabling broadcasters to transmit from anywhere, to anywhere. In this era of media control and online censorship, shortwave presents an attractive outlet for freedom activists and political dissidents, whose shortwave broadcasts are effectively un-cancellable.

The medium as the message

SWLing is a specific type of long-distance A/V reception more generally known as "DXing". Those who seek out obscure, remote radio signals quickly realize that the character of DX transmissions lends as much to the listening experience as their actual content. The received audio is lo-fi and monophonic, and the fluctuating signal-to-noise ratio adds interesting, unpredictable coloration to the sound. In addition to music and spoken word, the radio spectrum picks up coded telegraphs, ambient interference and strange electromagnetic artifacts.

This intriguing DX aesthetic has inspired many experimental musicians—first during the Cold War malaise of the late 70s and early 80s, and again after the fall of the Soviet Union. Kraftwerk's Radio-Activity (1975) explores the dual themes of radio communication and radioactive decay, its bleak aesthetic inspiring artists like Monoton and Throbbing Gristle. The 90's "Chill Out" scene—so named for The KLF's seminal 1990 album—regularly blended electronic instrumentation with field recordings and radio ephemera. Examples include Tetsu Inoue and Richard Dorfmeister.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySrbuW8277E&t=1m

One notable release is William Basinski's 1982 album, Shortwavemusic, which is composed entirely of shortwave transmissions processed with tape loops and delay.

You can listen at home

It's a good idea to have lots of different radios for different purposes—including walkie talkies, which we'll discuss in a future installment of Radio Activities. But the Swiss Army knife of radio listening is the SDR, or software-defined radio. Today, I'm going to show you how to build a listening station at home. For this project, you will need the following items, which are pictured in the gallery below:

1. An SDR. I recommend an RTL-SDR USB dongle. You can buy a starter kit at that link, but I'm going to get you a lot farther with only a small investment.
2. A 9:1 balun (available at the RTL-SDR store link above);
3. A twin lead, using an FM radio antenna;
4. Some wire nuts and electrical tape;
5. Some ferric beads (available via the RTL-SDR store);
6. Some PVC pipe, or any plastic that can live outside in the elements;
7. A USB extension cable (available via RTL-SDR.com), and
8. A long, single-strand wire. For my long wire, I cut a dead line off a telephone pole and split it into a single strand.

We're going to create a longwire, or 'random-wire' antenna. Basically, when the length of your antenna matches the wavelength of a specific radio frequency, it becomes "tuned" to that frequency. We don't want our random-length wire accidentally tuned to a common frequency, but we'll probably be OK if we use one of these lengths (in feet):

One we have our wire, we need to get it up in the air. This gallery will show you how to set up your antenna. Click the images below to see them full size, and then scroll down to see the instructions below each slide.

Well that was a pain in the ass! Now that we've set up the hardware, we need the software to control our SDR. I use GQRX and have found this to work best for Linux, though it's also available for Mac. I can't comment on Windows SDR software but there are several options available.

When you start GQRX, it will prompt you to input your settings. It should find your RTL-SDR by default, but in order to pick up shortwave, we will need to add direct_samp=2 to our device string:

Click 'OK', and then in the menu go to file → start DSP. You should now be connected! For more details on using GQRX, read their tips and tricks, or you can ask for help in their user group.

OK, so now that you're receiving shortwave, what to listen to? ShortwaveSchedule.com is pretty comprehensive, so that might be a good place to start. Or, you can just start jumping around until you find the broadcasts you like. Note that most stations broadcast intermittently, and you'll have way better reception at night than in the day.

If you want to follow a specific show, I recommend VORW Radio International, hosted by the food critic and supreme gentleman known as "Reviewbrah", a voice of dignity in an undignified world. VORW Radio International's current schedule is as follows:

Here are some examples of shortwave transmissions I can hear over GQRX:

Other frequencies

If you remove direct sampling from your device string, you'll be able to receive all kinds of messages, including:

• Police scanners
• Emergency first responders
• Marine band broadcasts, if you're close to the water
• Freight train dispatchers
• Truckers on CB (citizen band) radio
• Air traffic controllers
• Certain types of walkie-talkies

If your internet goes down in an emergency, and you don't feel you can trust the information you're receiving from the mainstream media, the SDR provides a lot of ways to determine what is happening 'on the ground'. Here are some signals I captured with my SDR:

[playlist images="false" artists="false" ids="21740,21741,21742,21743,21744,21745"]

Further reading and listening

• SF 10-33 is a 24-hour streaming radio station that mixes ambient music with live transmissions from the San Francisco public safety scanner. San Francisco is renowned for its New Age and Ambient music scenes, and also for its total failure to maintain public order.
• Worldwide DX Radio Forum is the best place I have found on the Web to meet other radio enthusiasts. Their members are very knowledgeable and helpful.
• The SWling post is a blog dedicated to shortwave listening. If you want regular, fresh content on SW, this site is very active and frequently updated.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you have any questions or corrections.

I have written several articles related to chemical biological and nuclear survival over the past twenty years and I covered these subjects in all five of my books. My qualifications include being an EMT, HAZMAT Technician, and certified Radiological Monitor way back with the Civil Defense Department in the 80’s. These articles were regarded as interesting but academic a few years ago, but recent chemical spill incidents, an ongoing pandemic, and serious potential for limited or unlimited nuclear war make NBC protection and decontamination skills both relevant and critical for every citizen.

Rules of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Survival

1. Keep the contaminant (chemical, virus, bacteria, and fallout) out of your body. Have or improvise protection.
2. Keep the contaminant (chemical, virus, bacteria, and fallout) off your body.
3. Get out of the contaminated area as fast as possible. Have a plan.
4. Get the contaminant (chemical, virus, bacteria, and fallout) off your body and covering as fast as possible.
5. Isolate yourself from people and material that are contaminated as soon as possible and for as long as possible. Have supplies.
6. Treat the symptoms of chemical exposure, diseases and radiation as effectively as possible. For nuclear contamination have a supply of potassium iodide tablets. Have antibiotics purchased from pet stores, or survival supply outlets. Also have plenty of electrolyte hydration powder, as dehydration is often the main killer from radiation sickness, and infections.

Respiratory Protection

Ninety percent of the immediate harm from biological agents, chemical agents and radioactive fallout is from inhalation and ingestion of the contaminant. Skin and hair exposure must be decontaminated as soon as possible, but what you have breathed and swallowed is irreversible harm. It is unlikely that you will have an M-17 or an Israeli gas mask handy when the NBC event happens. You may be at your job, at school, shopping or on the road. Even if you have full NBC masks and gear at home you may well breathe a lethal amount of contaminant before you get there. Remember: “It’s not what you have that saves you, it’s what you have with you.

Fortunately, the N95 dust/mist masks sold in most hardware stores for painting is all the protection you need from biological threats and nuclear fallout. These mask cost less than $2.00 each. They also can protect you from chemical contaminated dust and soot created by bombs, fires and storms. These masks are small and light enough to carry everywhere. You should have at least one in every jacket, purse, glove box, briefcase, and pack. Have more of them at home. It is critical that you keep them in a sealed plastic bag so that the inside of the masks is not pre-contaminated before you put it on. It is also critical that you fit it properly according to the instructions on the package.

Air and contaminants will not go through a filter if they can go around them. Be aware that all bets are off if you have a beard or heavy facial hair. You may need to consider packing a plastic razor with the mask. The mask will keep biologically contaminated air and mists out of your lungs and will keep radioactive dust partials out of your body where Alpha and Beta radiation do the most harm. The N95 is not rated for chemical protection but does provide very limited short-term reduction in exposure. There are also some N95 plus masks that have a charcoal impregnated layer for improved protection against chemicals. So, you’re most important and effective step to NBC protection is stocking-up on N95 masks and have in a least one with you and every family member wherever you go.

Instructions for Fitting N95 Dust/Mist Masks.

1. Mold the nosepiece to the shape at your fingertips, allowing the headbands to hang below your hand.

2. Press the respirator against your face with the nosepiece on the bridge of your nose.

3. Place the top band high on the back of your head. Move the bottom band over your head and position it below your ears.

4. Using both bands, mold the nosepiece to the shape of your nose.

5. Test the fit. Cup both hands over the respirator and exhale vigorously. If air flows around your nose, tighten the nosepiece. If air leaks around the edges, reposition the bands for better fit.

If you are concerned about chemical agents, consider purchasing a mask designed for pesticide spraying. Most chemical warfare agents are based on pesticides and these masks will work well enough for you to evacuate the affected area. You will also need a pair of chemical goggles to protect your eyes. Both of these are usually available at garden supply stores.

Home Made Mask for Biological Agents

Mix 1 tbsp. of bicarbonate of soda to 1 cup of water. Mix the solution well and soak a cloth or handkerchief in it. Wring out till damp and secure over nose and mouth.

Protective Clothing

In the case of biological agents, you generally will not be wearing protective clothing. However, clothing worn in public (stores, buses, etc.) where it may have been contaminated by coughing, sneezing, contact with furniture etc. should be removed wearing gloves before the mask is removed and should be laundered thoroughly.

Your best protection against biological hazards is the ability to stay completely isolated from the public until the epidemic has run its course. That means having enough food, water and other supplies to eliminate any need to leave home for from two to six weeks. During this time you will have to treat every approaching person including friends and family members as a threat to your life to be turned away or isolated. Decontamination will not save you if the “visitor” is already carrying the contagion. Remember that a person may be contagious long before showing symptoms. In fact biological warfare agents are designed to work just that way. Once the epidemic has started anyone and anything that enters your home must be decontaminated with a 10-percent bleach water solution. Even though you may still have running water it may be contaminated or even be the source of the epidemic. Boil all water for 5-minutes or ad 8-12 drops of bleach per gallon. Never run out of bleach. Have at least five extra gallons on hand at all times and rotate frequently. You will need it for water purification, decontamination and body waste disposal throughout any emergencies. All potentially contaminated food containers (cans, bottles, etc.) that were recently been exposed in public places (stores, etc.) should be wiped down with a 10% bleach solution or a strong soap before opening.

Having kept the hazardous material out of the body, we can move to how to keep them off the skin and hair. There are three situations where body protection may be necessary:

1. Situations where heavy biological contamination exists, such as hospitals, dead bodies, or areas where biological agents have been dispersed.
2. Situations where airborne chemical contaminants are present, such as downwind of a chemical spill. Or in building debris.
3. Any area in the downwind “footprint” of fallout from a nuclear detonation for at least two weeks.

Fortunately, there are fairly simple and easy solutions available. You do not need heavy NBC suits and masks. These products are designed for the military and industry to fight, and work for extended periods in high-risk environments. You just need immediate protection long enough to get out of the contaminated area or reach a fallout shelter.

You can improvise a protective suite from plastic bags rubber bands and a pair of surgical gloves. Latex gloves are a handy item that I keep with each mask. The suit below consists of two large bags used as a skirts and head/body cover and four small ones used to cover arms, legs and shoes. It is important to note that any form of non-porous covering is better than none. Even just the one big bag covers 50% of the body. A raincoat or poncho is far better than nothing.

A step better is the basic Tyvek ™ chemical protective suits with the hoods and feet. These are cheap (around $12.00) light and easy to carry. I keep one in all my survival packs. These two are often available in hardware stores and are used by painters. They are a bit bulky for the pockets, but fit well in the glove box, desk drawer or locker.

Decontamination

Now that we have kept the bad stuff off of our skin and out of our lungs, we need to be able to remove the contamination and contaminated coverings without transferring it back into and onto our bodies. This process is called decontamination. Of course we want to do this when we are outside of the danger zone or at the entrance to more effective shelter (underground for fallout, enclosed from biological or chemical) locations. Ideally this is a two-person job, with both wearing protective clothing. It should be done in a location that will not permit contaminated run-off, spray mists or dusts to contaminate other safe areas.

There are five steps to effective decontamination.

1. Gross decontamination involves simply brushing off or rinsing off any surface contaminants as well as dumping any contaminated gear that will not be needed.
2. Thorough decontamination is accomplished by the use of pressurized water (not high pressure) with a neutralizing or disinfecting solution. A ten-percent bleach solution is best for biological contaminants. Soap and water will clear most chemical and fallout materials. Plain water used copiously will be less effective but may be adequate. The best device for spraying is a commercial pump garden sprayer. Keep a clean one handy at home. They are also good for fighting small class “A” fires and general hygiene tasks.
3. Next you need to“peel of” the protective clothing minimizing any contact with the clean clothing and skin underneath. Step out of the foot coverings* onto an uncontaminated surface. Remove the face mask and then peel off the gloves.

4. If any clothing was potential contaminated before you put on the protection it must be removed and any skin, or hair must be rewashed before dressing and entering the safe zone or shelter.
5. Finish up by bagging all contaminated materials and containing all contaminated waters. Remember; the decontamination area is now a hot zone that cannot be entered without protection. Be sure your selected decontamination area does not block exit routs or entry routs for uncontaminated people. Be sure runoff from the decontamination area does not go into water sources or locations where others may track through it.

Conclusion

Your improvised emergency protection may not be as effective as professional and military equipment, but you are more likely to have it and use it when and where you need it. Used quickly and with care, these techniques will be effective enough to save you from the effects of exposure to radioactive fallout, biological contamination and most chemical exposures. It is recommended that you have at least one N95 mask and a pair of latex gloves in each jacket pocket and several in your survival pack. Have enough plastic bags and/or chemical suits to protect every family member handy.

NOTE: The plastic bag suit, or chemical protection suit and dust mask are all useful for cold weather survival situations and should be part of every survival pack.

Over the last few months, I have been building a new bug-out set-up. For the load bearing portion, I decided on military surplus equipment from the Netherlands, sourced from Varusteleka Oy in Helsinki, Finland. My reasoning for ordering from them has a lot to do with price, and wide availability of the equipment from one source, compared to US sources.

There are some things that one should know when buying any military surplus. One; the essential element of military surplus is the, generally, lower prices for quality gear. Second; unless you are lucky enough to find new, as issued surplus, you are getting used gear. This means that there is a chance there will be some defects. Generally, you will find a grading system to give you an idea of what to expect when you get the product. Varusteleka does not supply a grade, but they do inform you that quality may vary, so they’re honest about what to expect.

The first thing that caught my eye was the Lowe Alpine style “Sting” rucksack. It has a few qualities that made it an excellent choice for me. It is constructed of a strong Cordura-equivalent, Infrared Reflective nylon in a Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM) camouflage pattern—very much like the old British
DPM, and like the old American Woodland pattern.

The lid to the pack has a large pocket to store items you need to retrieve quickly. That was the one defect in my pack; the zipper was not closing properly. A quick search on YouTube, and a pair of pliers, and it was functional again. The front of the pack has rows of PALLS/MOLLE to add pouches for extra gear.

The main compartment has a sleeve for a hydration pouch, but it is otherwise just a 60-liter tub that you load from the top. There is an additional twenty liters in the “rocket” pouches on the sides of the pack, and they were the asset that most sold me on the pack. They are removeable by zipper, and once
removed, they zip together and become a day pack with the included backpack straps.

The pack itself has an adjustable suspension system, comfortable shoulder straps, and a good hip belt to help make the bag comfortable to carry. There are variations in the packs—mine has daisy chain straps under the rocket pouches and on the top of the flap pocket that allow for more attachment
options.

Being that I live in Texas, I feel like the 80-liter pack is big enough for my needs and helps me avoid overpacking. If you want to carry more there is also the “Saracen” rucksack, which is just a 120-liter
version of the Sting.

The rucksack is where I will be carrying most of my bug-out gear, but there are tools that I may need to access while on the move. Trauma kits, various tools, compasses, and the like should be kept easily reachable, and a Load Bearing Equipment (LBE) vest will make that easier. It made sense to me to stay with the Dutch family of equipment for a Bug-Out Vest.

This series of Dutch surplus includes a modular vest that I find superior to most surplus LBE on the market. Like most modern gear, it is a PALLS/MOLLE style vest that gives the user a lot of choice. It is highly adjustable to fit most people. On the left and right front of the vest there are zippered pockets for maps and other flat items. Inside the rightside pocket is a holster for a small pistol. The MOLLE webbing covers the entire vest, front and back, to which you can add pouches for gear. They can be found in green, black and DPM.

Varusteleka carries a wide selection of matching pouches in assorted sizes, and for different uses. I bought two three-magazine pouches, a small, general-purpose pouch, and a first aid/admin pouch from the gear selection. I also bought an admin pouch, a trauma kit pouch, and a tool pouch in OD green from Condor. All these pouches fit on the front of the vest. It leaves the possibility to add more pouches to the back of the vest, but in my case, I will be using the rocket pouches for short trips away from camp.

The Dutch gear is proving to be of excellent quality, and functions as expected. Despite their reputation, I have been using Condor gear for years, and I find the quality to fits my needs just fine. In the next issue, I will start discussing what is going into the system, as well as a first-line belt kit. Your mileage may vary, but I am happy with where this set up is headed. The Dutch equipment is popular in Great Britain, and you can find some excellent reviews if you look on YouTube, so doing a little further
research will be easy.

Sources:
Varusteleka Oy
https://www.varusteleka.com/en
Hankasuontie 11 A
00390 Helsinki

The Electric Bike has been around for a while now and is based on the bicycle. An e-bike can be propelled by pedal power and by a small electric motor. There are many different options of this E-Bike available today. These E-bikes can carry weight and people who are not in the best physical shape many
miles on one charge and the batteries are small enough to be able to be recharged in many ways.

The bicycle has been a very popular mode of transportation across the world for many years and the new advances in lithium battery technology is making the E-Bike a close second to traditional bikes in popularity.

The bicycle is used to both transport heavier loads than you would want to backpack from place to place and for years a fringe group of travelers have used them to bike pack across countries around the world. The Vietcong used bicycles to transport loads of supplies around the country of Vietnam during the Vietnam War and did it very proficiently. In recent years US Army Airborne units have dropped in behind enemy lines with large loads of gear and folding mountain bikes to transport them to their targeted locations. Some of the armored vehicles would have mounts on the outside of the vehicle to fold and mount the bicycles once the troops assembled with an armored unit. European units have used bicycles over the years to transport infantry units and gear around their AO’s. The bicycle has a very long and effective history of being used as a way to transport people and loads in a speedy and efficient manner over the years.

The E-Bike is just the next generation of this mode of transportation. With the smaller power requirements and ease of recharging it makes a more efficient way to accomplish what the pedal bicycle has done for many years. The E-bikes are designated in classes in the United States and have different capabilities that differentiate those classes of e-bike. Class1 E-Bikes are generally under 750-watt motors and pedal assist only. These E-bikes don’t have a throttle but use a speed sensor to engage the electric motor when the e-bike is under motion. The assist modes are normally set to various levels of power put to the tire which will decide how fast the e-bike will go. These assist settings can be set in 1 through 9 levels on most e-bike controllers. Most Class 1 e-bikes don’t go over 20 mph but this can change depending on the rider’s muscle abilities and health status.

Class 2 E-Bikes have both the pedal assist option and a throttle only mode. You can ride these like bicycles to conserve battery life and like an electric moped with the throttle only. They are still limited to top motor speeds of twenty-eight mph. They are still limited to a 750-watt motor, and this is probably the most popular type of E-bike on the market.

Class 3 E-Bikes take the motor wattage up to 1000 or even 1500-watt motors. Otherwise, they have the same functionality as the Class 2 E-bikes do but with more torque and power. The Class 3 E-Bikes have limitations as to where you can ride them throughout the US.

That is the end of the E-Bikes but there are more options out there which would be classified as Electric mopeds and all out Electric motorcycles but that is for a different discussion.

These E-Bikes are normally built on much larger frames than normal bicycles are. This is to take in consideration that they are heavier and also have a lot more torque put to the frame when under electric power. A lot of these E-Bikes also run 3 or 4-inch-wide tires which really perform well in off road conditions and snow and ice conditions for which they do get used.

The size of the normal E-Bike battery lends itself to many recharging methods. AC or DC can recharge these batteries, and this would include solar and wind and solar generators to restore the E-Bike battery to full charge in the field. They operate in two normal configurations. The more expensive ones will have mid drive motors which are located in the crankcase where your pedals are located. This type of drive system can use the bikes drivetrain and sprocket gears to propel the bike and therefore use those gears to get more speed or power to the wheels like your legs would do on a normal bike. The second type and normally lower priced E-bike configuration is the hub motor E-Bikes. These have their motor contained in the wheel hub and don’t use any of the gearing of the chain and sprocket system you use when you pedal to propel the E-Bike. They are more of a direct drive type of system. These are normally less expensive to buy, and there is actually less to fail in the drive system. There are some E-Bikes out there that have two hub motors and are sold as AWD type E-Bikes. They will burn more battery quicker, but they will also normally be able to pull or carry more weight.

Once you find an E-Bike you are comfortable purchasing then there is a small learning curve to using and maintaining the bike. As preppers we seem to be more inquisitive to how something works and what can go wrong and there is no difference with the E-Bike. The chain needs to be cleaned and oiled, the brake cables need to be adjusted as you put miles on them, and the brake pads should be replaced at least annually. You will need a tire patch kit along with an air pump and tire tools and extra tubes. The main things that will fail are tires and the chain. In most cases you will need to outfit your E-Bike with racks, paniers, bags, and maybe a trailer to use it for a prepper vehicle. You may want to armor up your tires to help keep them puncture free and waterproof your battery connections and controller box as many of the commercial E-Bikes will not come waterproof.

The E-Bike is a solid way to transport yourself and up to a couple hundred pounds of gear in a SHTF situation. It is nimbler than an automobile and one of the most proficient EV methods of transportation available to us today. They are being used in hot and cold alike conditions by normal people all over the country and the world. Snow, ice, hot desert, or monsoon humid environments have all been faced by the E-Bike and with proper knowledge and precautions it has worked for those who
have made the trip.

So, with all of this said which E-Bike should I get? Well, that is a very individual decision and has some scrutiny based on one’s income and planned uses for the E-Bike. The hub motor E-Bikes start around $1,200.00 and the Middrive E-bikes start about $3,000.00 and go up from there. I have started with hub motor E-Bike and am happy with my decision. It has some shortcomings, but it also has merit. You start with a lower investment and start to build your system as you have more money to work with. For most Preppers this makes more sense as one you don’t know how much you will use the E-Bike in your day-to-day use and what you will be happy with as you make the first investment. One other side note on the hub motor E-Bike is when more money becomes available you could add a front hub motor to the E-Bike and complement it with a completely secondary E-Bike drive system. This could be used as an AWB when pulling heavier loads up hills and give you a completely secondary drive-train system if the original hub motor fails when you really need the E-Bike to get out of a situation. Below I will list some of the many manufacturers and dealers you may want to contact to look for an E-Bike for your SHTF plan. Most of the E-Bikes are made outside of the USA or made from parts from outside the USA at this time so dealing with a dealer inside the country may be worth the slight added expense.

Take a look around and find an E-Bike that will work for you and your family and load it up and get out on and off the road to see if this is a game changer for your packing out in a SHTF situation.

Related Links

• Himiway.com
• RadPowerBike.com
• RamboBikes.com
• LectriceBikes.com
• TrekBikes.com
• Mod-Bikes.com
• MontagueBikes.com
• khsBicycles.com
• SunSeeker.bike
• SurlyBikes.com
• CoffmanOutdoors.com

While the annual meeting is still months away (March 25, 2022) Live Free USA is now accepting nominations for the Board of Directors.  Whereas most previous board members have been located in the Great Lakes region, we are a national organization and are very much committed to broadening our leadership. Since board meetings are now held online, and projects are shared on various internet platforms there is no reason that members from coast-to-coast cannot become officers. As of this date there are at least three directorships that are up for reelection and three currently unfilled positions that are available. Officers are elected for three-year terms and are expected to take on various duties and projects as specified in the bylaws. Directorship is an opportunity to be a part of America’s original survival and preparedness organization. Members can place themselves or others into nomination by e-mailing survivorjj@aol.com or writing to Live Free USA, PO Box, 3295 Munster IN 46321.  Please provide a brief description of why you want to be nominated.  

Every month I come across a bunch of resources and new products that might be of interest to preppers. Starting this month, I am going to gather up a list and publish it here. Do not take anything listed here to be an item I endorse unless I specifically say so.

If you have a product or a service that you think should be on one of these lists, drop me a line at editor@readymagazine.com and I will take a look at it.

The Warrior Poet Society Network

Let’s start with a service that I do endorse. The Warrior Poet Society is the brainchild of John Lovell, a retired army ranger and firearms instructor. One of the services that he provides is the Warrior Poet Society Network (WPSN), a streaming service with high quality instruction for those of us interested in firearms.

The service is like Make Ready from Panteao Productions in that it provides quality instructions from qualified instructors, but where I think it excels is in the other subjects it covers. Make Ready has a series of survival and preparations that are worthwhile, including a series of videos by Dave Canterbury that are great. WPSN does it a bit better.

They have been introducing many preparedness related series from the instructors from the Survival Summit, including EJ Snyder from Naked and Afraid. They have series on bugging in, bugging out, land navigation and several other important subjects in addition to shooting, martial arts, and videos from several popular YouTube channels that provide review and 2^nd Amendment advocacy.

Membership in WPSN is $9.99 a month and can be found at https://www.watchwpsn.com/.

TopoView

Maps are an important preparedness tool. Of all the diverse types, topographical maps must be at the top of most must have preparedness tool lists. TopoView, an online service of the United States Geological Survey, is the best source on the net for topographical maps.

TopoView is a searchable database of all maps, going back to the 1880’s in some cases, for all the US. They are available in four formats. The most useful of these is the GEOPDF. These downloads are all free. They are all in the appropriate document size, to scale and in full color.

You should keep in mind that you will have to print the maps yourself and that can get expensive. Most OfficeMax/Office Depot will have the large format printers required and use decent quality paper. You should also investigate waterproofing for your maps.

James Townsend & Son YouTube Channel

We are blessed today with incredible technology. We can communicate around the world in seconds, carry hundreds of books on a tablet the size of a notebook and we can carry more computing power in our pockets then the ones on the first missions to the moon. But what if it all went away?

We have several tools today to keep our tech running. The light of the sun, the movement of the wind, and even the heat of a fire can be harnessed to charge phones, tablets, and other devices. It is a remarkable thing, but there is real value in learning how things were done in earlier years. This is what James Townsend & Son does just this.

The owners of this channel also have a business that specializes in clothing, equipment, and supplies for 17^th & 18^th century reenactors, and they use the YouTube channel to promote their business. They do this by teaching viewers cooking and building methods from this period. I have learned a lot from the videos and have incorporated some of these skills into my preparedness planning. The videos are also just a plain enjoyable watch. They can be found at https://www.youtube.com/user/jastownsendandson

I hope that this first installment of Survival Resources is helpful to my readers. Look for the next list soon.

The post Survival Resources for October 2022 first appeared on Ready Magazine.

William Robb passed away on July eighth 2022 after a short but valiant battle with lymphoma.  Bill Robb was one of Live Free USA’s founding members. The organization started off as an informal group of high school kids who liked to go camping.  Being rather poor, we had to put together improvised equipment and hike or bike to local woods. We also had to face the inevitable challenges of survival on Chicago’s Southside.

Bill was in the Fenger High school ROTC and then majored in mathematics at the University of Illinois Chicago campus.   Just out of collage he joined the Army and was posted to the Pentagon were he did programming and coding in the early days of the computer age.  After the Army he was employed for many years by Sears where he helped establish their order and inventory tracking systems. Later he was employed as a department manager for Blue Cross / Blue Shield. Bill and his wife Laurie resided in Munster Indiana.  They had a daughter Melissa and two grandsons. In the early days of the organization Bill was a key factor in developing our organization and its philosophy. He participated in numerous campouts, and events as the organization grew from a small local sports club to a nationally recognized self-reliance advocacy and education organization.

While Bill never held an official office in Live Free USA he performed many essential tasks until only a few weeks before his passing.Bill was loyal, intelligent, and well grounded. William Robb will be greatly missed and always remembered.  His contribution to the organization and his friendship will live on.  

What do you do If you have to make a run for it? For most preppers the plan is to grab the bug out bag and head for the door. There are almost as many ideas on a BOB as there are preppers and we all try to figure out how to best set one up. One idea on how to carry survival gear that has been around for almost as long as there has been an Air Force is the survival vest.

I have experimented with survival vests for a long time, but I never would have thought of a Bug Out Vest. One of Creek Stewart’s Pocket Field Guides has got me thinking on that track now. One of the big advantages of a survival vest is that the weight of the gear is spread out and easier to carry and it keeps gear handy while keeping your hands free.

Wrapping my head around a bug out vest took a little work, so I bought a copy of “Pocket Field Guide: the Bug Out Surivival Vest” from Amazon. In the past I viewed the survival vest in much the same way as a small survival kit, in fact I have had a Vietnam era Air Force Survival Vest hanging in my closet for about 25 years now that has served that purpose well. It has carried a basic survival kit with the tools to see to my survival needs and is for unexpected emergencies on day trips and the like, but it may not be the best tool for a bug out situation.

I am rebuilding my bug out equipment plan right now so I decided to explore new ideas. I reread a lot of the material that I have on hand and bought new books to gather new ideas. I found Stewart’s “Build the Perfect Bug Bag” to be a great resource so when I came across this Pocket Field Guide on the vest, it grabbed my attention.

The Pocket Field Guides are a series of short, concisely written guides to specific survival topics. In this volume you get a step-by-step tour through the process of building his bug out vest. The lion share of the 82 pages is devoted to choosing the base vest. I have vests that match some of the ones that he suggests already, including a Dutch molle-style vest that matches the Bergan-style backpack that I am using to build my BOB and a chest rig like the one he shows in the bonus section of the book.

Ideas on vest choices make up the largest part of the book because it is the most complex part of the process. The sections on what goes into the vest is less complex because this little book is about choosing the platform and suggestions on the supplies and equipment that should fill it. Think of the rest of the book as a starting off point.

Each subsequent section gives a brief run-down of items to cover the basic survival areas Shelter, Water, Food, Fire, Frist Aid, Rescue (Signaling) and Tools. When you are building any survival kit you should consider the items in a guide you are using as suggestions and adjust as needed. That being said, the lists in each section are quality products worth considering.

While I have a hard time seeing 3-days supplies on a vest set-up, Stewart makes a compelling argument in this guide. A vest like this would be far and away better than nothing. For me, this vest set-up makes a lot of sense as a second-line kit. In military terms, the Second Line are the basic survival and self-defense tools that are carried so that the soldier is always ready.

For our purposes as preppers, the second line is the first layer of a bug out plan. It is an important tool once you get to your bug out location and must venture away from base camp. A vest like this gives you enough survival gear to unexpectedly be away from base camp for a night or two. It should make it easier to do the work you need to do by keeping your hands free and distributing the weight more evenly about the body.

I am following the guide in building a second line vest kit that will sustain me at a basic level. I bought the Dutch tactical vest from Varusteleka in Finland for the purpose. As an aside, ordering for Varusteleka is an easy and quick process and the prices a fair. The Dutch vest is of MOLLE style and so far, I have had no problem attaching pouches from Condor to it, so I think that most MOLLE style pouches will fit.

One of the nice touches in the Field Guide is a chapter on how to properly use MOLLE. Doing it right will make your equipment more secure. With the variety of pouch styles that are available now, a MOLLE style vest makes a lot of sense. The book does not take defensive weapons into account, so you don’t get suggestions in that area, but you get examples of other pouches to use for various kits. I am thinking that a MOLLE vest is the way to go. This way, you can customize the vest in a way that works for you.

The kit suggested in this book fits my BOB plan very well. Creek Stewart’s “Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag” has been one of the guides that I am using for my new BOB, which represents the third line of my preparedness bug out plan. When I discovered this guide the description made it look like it was a good guide to building a general second line kit. I am pleased to say that I was right.

When I get the new kit finished, I will post a video to show you how it comes out. Until then, if a survival/bug out vest sounds like a good plan, the "Pocket Field Guide: The Bug Out Survival Vest” is a place to start.

Ultimately wars and revolutions are not won by defeating the opponent’s army or overthrowing a government. These struggles are only decided when one side defeats the other’s population. Armies can only control the real-estate they stand on and rebels can only occupy a few buildings, but the mass of a nation always belongs to the people. This truth has been proven over and over again through history.

• The Soviet Union collapsed when the population finally became totally disaffected with the communist regime and refused to comply. They didn’t even need to resort to armed violence to prevail.
• In 1776 the British, with the most powerful army in the world, eventually had to recognize the independence of its North American colonies, simply because the masses there no longer would assent to being governed by them.
• The British, the Soviets and the United States, all failed to win in Afghanistan, because the culture and population simply would not comply.
• The term guerilla and guerilla warfare originated in Spain as the population rose up against Napoleon in 1808. The need to constantly fight in Spain drew strength from his other campaigns and contributed to his eventual downfall in Russia.
• The United States was unable to win wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq in spite of defeating the enemy’s armies because the populations were not supportive of a foreign invader, no matter how benevolent.

Opposite examples also exist where populations were disarmed, subjugated, and culturally inclined to be obedient.

• In spite of Nazi ideological indoctrination, Germany surrendered without much civilian resistance when the state declared a surrender because (1) the fascists had (as always) disarmed the population, and (2) Germans had a cultural tradition of obedience.
• The Japanese only surrendered when the emperor told them it was over. America, understanding the Japanese culture of obedience, established a policy of not bombing the palace or letting the emperor come to harm just for this reason. Of course, Japan has never permitted civilians to be armed.
• In the early days of World War Two there was a real possibility that Germany would invade England. The long history of English obedience to a king and being unarmed, suddenly left them helpless before an invader. The people were willing to resist, but had nothing to fight with. Americans sent over thousands of guns, and tons of ammunition for their Home Guard. Of course, these weapons were never left to the people after the war.

Examples of the deterrent effects of potential resistance and militia (by any name) organizations are easy to find.

• Recently Ukrainians began training civilians to fight the Russians in anticipation of the invasion. Ukrainian militias were seen training in the snow lead by older veterans. While it was obvious that the Ukrainian Army alone could not stop the massive Russian forces on their borders, the combination of a robust defense by the Ukrainian Army combined with a massive civilian resistance even behind Russian lines, stalled the overwhelming might of Russian armor and manpower.
• During the Cold War, the popularity of the slogan “Better Dead than Red” and the rise of Survivalism and doomsday preparedness was said to have frightened the USSR and convinced them that starting a conventional war could lead to a nuclear exchange that America was willing to endure.
• The rise of the British Home Guard, ready to fight with pitchforks and old rifles, had a deterrent effect on Hitler’s plans to invade the island in 1940.

While anti-gun politicians and the media decry the need for “military style” weapons in the hands of the public and often point out that armed civilians cannot stand against a trained army with artillery, tanks, and aircraft, this is precisely what happened over-and-over again in past and recent times. As Japan’s Admiral Yamamoto told General Tojo before World War Two, “Never invade America, there will be a rifle behind every blade of grass.” What no one in the gun debate likes to talk about is the obvious fact that the second amendment to the US constitution was specifically intended to preserve the right to possess “military style” firearms for the purpose of resisting foreign and domestic threats to life and freedom. Nowhere in the amendment is criminal self-defense or hunting mentioned. The reference to a “well-regulated militia” in the text is often misinterpreted to imply that arms are only to be had by those in a government “regulated” organization, but the word “regulated” in 1787 meant trained and organized, not “controlled” as the word is used today. While there are many formally organized militia groups with varying levels of responsibility and capability, the historic term militia implies all of the population organized or not. In fact, modern technology makes formal organizations much more vulnerable to observation and interdiction by both foreign and domestic oppression. A generally trained and equipped public that has the potential for protracted resistance or unorganized uprisings, serves as a powerful and unpredictable force in preventing invasion, coups, or insurrections. This may explain why the United States has the world’s oldest government. The armed citizen and would-be militia member may never fire a shot, but their existence serves as a powerful deterrent. Certainly, armed civilians cannot stop a modern army with all of its technology and hardware, but they can make victory impossible. This is really what is at stake in America today and a critical part of survival reality.

The enemies of freedom and self-reliance know that they cannot defeat an armed and united population, so they actively seek to defeat the American people by dividing and confusing us. Russia and China are masters of disinformation, and have weaponized the internet and social media to spread baseless conspiracy theories, hate, and distrust. If they can divide the people, they can conquer the people. The Third World War has been going on for decades, and we are losing because both the extreme left and the extreme right fall for the enemies divisive tactics. As Ben Franklin put it, “We must all hang together or we will surely hang separately.”

* Just before the invasion, the following text was in an article from Associated Press about Ukrainians preparing to fight the Russians.

KHARKIV, Ukraine – “The table tennis coach, the dentist, and the firebrand nationalist have little in common except the desire to defend their hometown. …If Russia invades, some of Kharkiv’s 1 million people stand ready to abandon their civilian lives and wage a guerrilla campaign against one of the world’s greatest military powers.” The article goes on to explain how families plan to evacuate their children and then use whatever weapons they have to resist. They already have stocks of water, food, and medical supplies for survival. US intelligence officers were quoted as saying, “The Russians, want to destroy Ukraine’s combat forces. They don’t want to be in a position where they have to occupy ground, where they have to deal with civilians, where they have to deal with an insurgency.” Once again proof that the potential of armed civilians is the ultimate defense of liberty in any nation, just as the authors of the constitution intended.

When Live Free USA was founded in 1968, the specter of nuclear war was the primary driver for the survivalist movement. We still had programs on basic preparedness, outdoor survival, and self-defense, but nuclear war and the chaos and violence that would follow was the scenario that motivated interest in survival education and preparation. When we thought that the Cold War had ended in the 1990s, the survivalist movement almost collapsed. All of the survival publications went out of business, and every survival organization except Live Free USA dissolved. We continued to fight the growing complacency and world events such as global-terrorism, rampant crime, violent weather, and economic instability revitalized support for individual safety and self-reliance. Still, support for survivalism never returned to Cold War levels. The advent of a worldwide pandemic that generated massive civil unrest and economic instability certainly highlighted the instability, and vulnerability of our highly dependent and centralized society. Amid all of these threats to life and freedom, the potential for nuclear war has reemerged in even more dangerous forms.

While the theory of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) worked to avert a nuclear holocaust through the late Twentieth Century, and treaties and inspection temporarily provided some level of prevention in the past two decades, none of these preventive agents apply today.

Cold War era ballistic missiles took time to launch and followed a long arching trajectory to the target. Once a launch was detected, the target nation would have time to launch its own missiles. So the missiles would pass each other on the way to their targets. If one launches, they both are annihilated. No one wins. Mutually assured destruction. But now we have hypersonic cruise missiles that are hard to detect and travel at over 4,000 mph (miles per hour). These weapons will reach their targets in minutes, before the victims have time to launch a counter strike. Like an old fashioned Western gun fight, the winner is whoever draws and shoots first. While the United States civil defense programs just designated various basements as fallout shelters, the old Soviet Union had constructed hundreds of hardened underground installations complete with workshops, hospitals, and housing for thousands. These installations were virtual underground cities connected by miles of tunnels and railroads. Many of these facilities were located in the Ukraine and the Crimea. It should be very concerning that Russia has reactivated and updated many of these formerly abandoned sites, and has been building more, while our military was spending billions chasing cave-dwellers in Afghanistan.

During the Cold War, the world was relatively stable with just two super powers being very careful. In fact, the Soviets were so worried about unauthorized launches that their prelaunch protocols were more stringent than ours. Today we have unstable and rogue leaders and multiple nations with nuclear weapons and multiple scenarios for their use.

In the early days of the Cold War (1950-1980), large single warhead bombs, and then ballistic missiles, were the primary threat. Civil defense maps indicated areas of destruction radiating from the center of a target city or base. More recently, missiles are fitted with multiple smaller warheads and decoys, so it is more likely that a number of nukes would bracket a city and do far more damage much farther away from the city center. Instead of one 25 megaton blast in downtown Chicago, we could see five to ten, one to five megaton warheads detonating from northern Waukegan to northwest Indiana extending the un-survivable range out to 50 or more miles, and the damage out to 100 miles. With a combination of incoming multiple-warhead (MIRV or multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle) ballistic missiles, and hypersonic cruise missiles, the residents would have zero chance of escape or survival. Unless they had already put themselves some distance from the area, or had evacuated days in advance.

Typical missile payload with nine nuclear warheads. A typical “boomer” submarine may carry as many as 24 of these missiles with this many warheads; that is 24 x 9 = 216.

How Could a Nuclear War Start?

During the Cold War, the scenario was that the USSR or the US might launch due to miscalculation or mistake of some kind. This almost happened in October 1962, an event known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. But, the specter of MAD and careful communications between Moscow and Washington averted a true disaster. Today, we have multiple scenarios that could lead to an exchange of nuclear warheads. The following events could occur in a domino-like sequence or individually.

1. A protracted regional war that spreads into a larger conventional war, resulting in threatened use of nuclear weapons.
2. The use of a few tactical nuclear weapons by one or both combatants in an attempt to achieve a tactical victory or break a stalemate.
3. A full exchange of tactical nuclear weapons limited to the battle field and support regions.
4. A limited nuclear attack aimed at military, government installations, and infrastructure within the combatant nations only.
5. A full-scale nuclear exchange between nations intended to kill civilians and totally destroy all industry and infrastructure.

At this writing, we are already at stage one of the above possibilities.

Back in the Cold War days, there were three attitudes about survival preparations for a nuclear war.

• The first was what we called the “Titanic Syndrome”: I can’t survive so why prepare? Our argument for this was: “Yea, but what if you do survive the initial blasts and aren’t prepared enough to survive the aftermath?”
• The second attitude was “It will be so horrible that I don’t want to survive it.” And our response: “Sure, you will be the most desperate and dangerous person out there killing folks for food, because you didn’t prepare.”

Both of the above attitudes were just cop-outs and denial by irresponsible citizens.

• Of course our attitude was that preparedness provides hope and is the responsibility of every good citizen regardless of the threat scenario.

Surviving a Nuclear War

While the threat of a nuclear war (limited or total) has reemerged and is more possible than ever, all of the civil defense preparations and public education that existed during the Cold War is long-gone and forgotten. Live Free USA will be updating and republishing our nuclear war survival articles in the coming months. There are plenty of ways that you can survive or at least increase your chances to survive nuclear war scenarios.

• The war may be limited to combat zones or only some domestic targets, in which case collateral damage and radioactive fallout will be survivable by those who know what to do and are properly prepared.
• If you live in a small town or rural area there will be little blast damage or primary radiation, but being able to mitigate fallout exposure, sustain isolation, and defend against desperate marauders will be essential.
• You may be away from the target area due to luck or good anticipatory planning. Having complete survival packs, weapons and if possible a safe retreat area will give you a chance to survive.
• You may have followed my first rule of survival (“Anticipate”) and have decided to take an out-of-town vacation or visit rural friends during an international crisis. Of course, you will have your survival packs and extra gear with you and maybe more stored at your friends’ place, as well.
• If you live outside the zone of total destruction, you may be injured and/or exposed to initial radiation and then fallout. You would find yourself among hordes of desperate and unprepared refugees. Your self-rescue capabilities, first-aid skills, survival packs, respirators, weapons and ammunition will greatly increase the survival chances for you and your family.

Conclusion

The increasing potential for a nuclear war should concern and motivate every responsible citizen. Modern technology has increased the potential lethality of such an event, while presenting significant challenges to survival. The effects of a general nuclear war are horrific, but many would survive the initial blasts and fires. Many of those who survive the first days of such a cataclysm would succumb to radiation sickness, starvation, disease, and violence unless they have acquired knowledge and made preparations to survive. The eleventh rule of survival is “Never Give Up!”

• Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson H. Kearny and forwarded by Edward Teller* of the Manhattan Project. A nuclear war survival manual commissioned by the US Government.
• Better Read than Dead by T.F. Nieman. This occasionally republished book was popular in the 1980s and includes a lot of fallout protection information. The title was a reference to the survivalist slogan “Better Dead than Red” back then.
• My old Radiological Monitoring manual from a course a Live Free USA member took for a county civil defense agency.
• A small fallout shelter sign from the 60s. Shelters were stocked with food, water, medicine, and radiation monitoring instruments. No such shelters exist today.

*I met Edward Teller when we were both speaking at the American Society for Civil Defense convention in Los Vegas in the 1980’s

Under the circumstances I have directed Doctor Bond to prepare immediately for inoculation in this quarter, and request that you will without delay inoculate all Continental Troop.

George Washington, 1777

Vaccinations and the controversies surrounding it date back to the American Revolution. Smallpox had ravaged the world population for centuries before 1776. When first infected, a smallpox victim would experience a brief period of mild symptoms, such as night sweats and a bounding pulse, and would then show no signs during the twelve day incubation period. Then, suddenly, the victim would experience severe chills, back pain, and fever, followed by the eruption of red dots. The lesions would swell into bumps and the bumps would become blisters, then fluid filed pustules. Ulcers and sores would develop in the throat and around the eyes and lips. Severe headaches would add to the victims torment. The ulcerated skin would give off a great stench. If the victim survived, Two weeks of suffering, the blisters would harden to scabs and the fever would abate. About ten percent of previously healthy people died, and a much higher percentage of those with what we would now call “underling conditions”.

Survivors of smallpox usually carried the “pockmark” scars with them for life. Smallpox inadvertently transmitted from traders killed about ninety percent of the Native Americans who had no “herd immunity” at all. The disease was especially prevalent in cities and among armies where the populations were in close contact. It was understood that it spread from person to person, and isolation was often initiated. People wore masks to avoid the smell, but had no concept of respiratory protection. Small pox usually killed more solders than combat throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

In 1776, the patriot army assembled in norther New York was being rendered incapable of resisting the impending British invasion, due to spreading smallpox infections. Although true vaccination against smallpox, using the more benign cowpox virus, was not introduced until 1796, a crude form of vaccination was in use using the live smallpox pathogen. This process was known as inoculation or violation. The process involved insertion of puss from an infected person’s sores, into a small slit in the arm of a healthy person. This process had several drawbacks. The person would still experience a milder form of the disease and be incapacitated for up to two weeks. The person could still pass the full-blown infection to others and would have to be isolated. Still, the patient was safe from future infection and the horrors of its effects. The patriot army could not afford to have any number of its troops incapacitated by the inoculation process with the summer campaign season upon them, so all they could do was practice hygiene and isolation until the winter when military activates stopped. George Washington initiated an inoculation program at Morristown (1777) and Valley Forge during the winters of 1777-1778 that significantly reduced deaths from the diseases. Historian John Ellis stated that “a compelling case can be made that his swift response to the smallpox epidemic and policy of inoculation was the most important strategic decision of his (Washington’s) military career”. Later it was discovered that cowpox infection imparted immunity from smallpox, and the disease was wiped out.

When I got my smallpox and chicken pox vaccinations back in 1943, it was not done by needle injection. My arm was scrapped to create a small abrasion onto which the dead virus/vaccine was placed. Older folks usually have a small scar on their right arm from this procedure.

Conclusion

Vaccines are nothing new and are have proven effective for centuries. Vaccinations have always caused some “side effects”, but were usually preferred over the risks of the full-blown disease. Obviously our ancestors were a lot tougher than we are, when we whine about a needle or few days of side effect illnesses. Controversy about vaccination is nothing new. There were religious and political issues in 1776, as there are now as respect for individual freedom and basic health issues created confusion. It is important to note that the very effective and safe vaccines for Smallpox, Chickenpox, Diphtheria, and other diseases that have been virtually wiped out, were, developed with primitive nineteenth century technology, and far less testing and oversite than the ones for
Covid19.

Back in 2011, I made a PowerPoint presentation entitled “Citizens Disaster Awareness” where I warned of the coming of multiple, interconnected disasters, including epidemics, civil unrest, extreme weather, and economic deterioration. I also wrote a two-part series titled “Storm Warning” warning of exactly the conditions we now face. Such presentations were not well received and few took them seriously. Human nature is to hear what we want to believe and reject what we don’t want to believe. A true survivor is one who is more apt to accept unpleasant possibilities and question optimistic predictions. Politicians survive by telling the people what they want to believe even when they know that

1. Very bad things are happening, and
2. They are not going to be able to prevent them or help you much when they happen.

When Live Free USA was organized, back in the 1960’s we had only two major survival threats to be concerned with, they were a nuclear war with the USSR, and communist inspired civil unrest at home. The economy was healthy, we were healthy, there was no terrorism, crime was limited, and we had a normal amount of bad weather. Back then, America was the unrivaled power in the world, and the future looked bright. By the dawn of the Twenty-first Century we faced a plethora of threats and ongoing disasters that have multiplied in the past two decades. The world as we know it has already ended. There are far too many interconnect threats to life and freedom to prevent catastrophic development for us and our children. At the end of my 2011 presentation a slide said that “we are firmly attached to an inclined plane wrapped helically around a central core”. Translation: “we're screwed”!

Here are my top ten threats to life and freedom for America in the next ten years and beyond.

#1: China

The objective of the Chinese Communist Party is world domination, using its economic and technological power. Americans—and all other people—would be subject to tyranny beyond the dreams of Hitler or Stalin. The day before the US exited from Afghanistan, Chinese diplomats were posing for photos with Taliban leaders. China is now equal, or slightly superior, to the USA, economically and militarily. They are not a “trading partner”, they are an enemy far more dangerous than the old USSR ever was. They use social media to create confusion, hate and division in America. They use the wealth that we have given them to bribe foreign politicians, infiltrate schools, and buy into corporations. They profited from the pandemic while our economy was ravaged. The Chinese Communists don’t need to conquer the world, they are just buying it. They are the primary source of drugs that drive crime in our cities. Most the threats listed below are either caused or deliberately exacerbated by China’s war on America. It may already be too late.

• Probability: Ongoing and immediate
• Severity: Total loss of freedom, privacy, and economic independence

#2: Pandemics

Before 2019 scientists predicted that a world-wide pandemic was inevitable. It was at the top of our previous “threat matrix” lists. Nothing has changed! The world population was not thinned out enough by Covid19 to reduce the chances of another, maybe even more deadly pandemic next year or in a few years. It is just as “inevitable” as it was in 2019. The economy and civilization cannot afford a repeat, but it’s still inevitable. The population density, travel frequency, and constant emergence of new pathogens will make this a new normal. This is how nature regulates over-population. Some scientists predict that the population at the end of this century will be the same as it was it the start of the twentieth century.

• Probability: 50% in the next ten years, inevitable within 20 years
• Severity: 20 to 40% reduction in world population. Massive political and economic chaos.

#3: Civil Unrest

The recent pandemic generated a surge in civil unrest, but this was only a symptom of a general and world-wide state of political discontent. Climate change, food shortages, economic decline, and crime, all exacerbated by communist agitation and divisive social media will continue to escalate violence and destruction. Major disasters and economic events may explode into full-scale revolutions. Police and even military forces may be unable to protect otherwise peaceful communities. If civilians are unable to defend themselves and their homes, draconian governmental interventions may end freedom as we know it.

• Probability: ongoing and increasing world-wide
• Severity: Urban and suburban fatalities and property damage, and significant economic and political impact.

#4: Economic Decline

Simply put: Earth has enough resources to support about 5 billion people, and we have 7.5 billion and growing. We have too many people fighting over too few resources. The economy is already a myth. Redistribution cannot do much. New technology is buying time, but there is not enough sunshine, wind, or wood to power civilization of 7 billion people at this level. There is not enough arable land or water to feed that many adequately. This is the ultimate, unavoidable economy reality. Wealth is resources developed into product (food, homes, etc.) and we don’t have enough to go around. Two years after Pearl Harbor eight battle ships was two-day ship production for American industry. In four years America destroyed Japan and Germany, while saving the USSR. Twenty years after 9-ll ground zero is still not reconstructed, and the Taliban is victorious after a twenty-year war. This should tell us all about the end of American economic supremacy.

• Probability: Ongoing and intensifying towards collapse.Severity: declining living standards, shortages, mass migrations, famine, and riots.

#5: Cyber Attacks and EMP

The recently cyber-attacks on hospitals, oil pipelines, and power grids was just the tip of the spear. These were conducted by third party, ransomware groups, but they are nothing compared to the potential, cyber-war weapons that are already inside our critical systems. Many cyber weapon programs can hide or lay dormant, or even travel through the web seeking a specific target. They may be used as part of a state coordinated attack, or the actions of terrorists. The economy can be destroyed with a click of a mouse. Your water supply, power supply, fuel supply, or food supply can be interrupted for extended periods. Planes can be brought down, and yes, civilization can be brought to chaos from a keyboard. How a large-scale electromagnetic pulse (EMP) would affect modern electronic systems is subject to considerable debate. An EMP can be generated from the sun, or by detonation of an EMP/ nuclear weapon at high altitude. In our highly wired world an EMP could be put us back to nineteenth century technology.

• Probability: Cyber-attacks will increase and impact every sector of life. The chances of a large scale EMP even range from 20 to 50%

#6: War

Back in the 1960’s when Live Free USA was founded, nuclear war was the primary driver for survival preparations. Now, as we are beset by multiple threats, it is easy to forget that the United States, Russia, and China still have thousands of nuclear armed missiles ready to launch. In addition we now have a growing number of rogue states with limited, but still deadly nuclear weapons. There are plenty of scenarios that could initiate a limited or unlimited nuclear exchange. The world is far less stable than it was during the cold war. Leon Panetta, former US Secretary of Defense, recently stated that “America is in more danger today than at any time since World War Two”.

• Probability: 50% for large-scale world-wide non-nuclear, 20% for limited nuclear exchange, and 10% for unlimited nuclear war within the next ten years.
• Severity: Ranging from significant destruction and loss of life to the end of civilization as we know it.

#7: Revolution

In the Jan/Feb issue of American Survivor I wrote the article “Is America Headed for Another Revolution?” I based this on my studies of the underlying conditions that sparked revolution in the past. There were a lot of small cracks in the socioeconomic system that were being magnified by social media. These divisions and discontent were being
exploited by China and Russia through disinformation and bots that spread hate and confusion. The pandemic was the match that initiated the mild/semi-insurrections of 2020. Certainly politicians, and foreign agents poured gasoline on every dispute. Economic decline, shortages, natural disasters, and grid failures will continue to fuel unrest and violence throughout the world. With the exception of the one in 1776, few revolutions have ended with expanded freedom. Most of the world’s population today is oppressed and desperate.

• Probability: More than 50% in the next ten years for all countries including the United States due to economic instability.
• Severity: Revolutions are unlikely to improve conditions and may result in the rise of oligarchies, and oppression.

#8: Terrorist Attacks

Terrorist are certain to be emboldened by victory in Afghanistan. The adjoining, unstable Pakistan with its extremist population and nuclear weapons provided the opportunity for nuclear terror in the future. The pandemic must inspire the imagination of would-be bioterrorists. The use of drones and even remotely controlled planes and trucks provide new methods of delivery. Imagine what a major terror attack could have done in the midst of the pandemic and civil unrest. Technology and our dependence on it is a major force multiplier for even small groups of misguided people.

• Probability: Inevitable.
• Severity: Ranging from bombings and shootings, to biological and even nuclear attacks.

#9: Extreme Weather

In the 1970’s the world averaged about 711 weather related storms, hurricanes, floods, droughts, tornadoes per year. From 2000 to 2009 the average was 3,536. Regardless of the cause, the climate is changing for the worst. Yes, the climate has changed many times over the centuries, but each change has caused massive social and political upheaval, wars, and migrations. Whole civilizations have been lost. Our existing, over populated, technologically dependent civilization is far more vulnerable than the more self-reliant societies of the past. Not only do we need to survive the individual weather events, we also need to cope with the unrest, chaos, pandemics, and economic decline that results.

• Probability: Ongoing and unpreventable
• Severity: Devastating. Famine, droughts, mass migrations, revolutions, wars, and whole areas becoming uninhabitable.

#10: Rampant Crime

The criminalized society and drug cartel financed gangs now control many major cities. They have such financial, political, and social influence that mayors, governors, and even presidents are afraid to mention “gangs” as the source of crime. Honest citizens are carjacked and beaten with impunity. Stray bullets kill children. Working tax paying citizens and business’s flee the cities leaving only criminals and welfare families. Thanks to Google Earth and Facebook, criminals are able to reach out into suburban and rural communities that once felt safe. Police funding will continue to dwindle while gang finances grow. Armed citizens are the last line of defense against anarchy.

• Probability: Ongoing, increasing and self-evident.
• Severity: Urban areas abandoned to criminal gangs. Suburban and rural areas fortified. Criminal cartels become major political forces as the economy declines.

Conclusion

Back in 2011, most of the above threats (except for terrorism) were not yet recognized or were just on the horizon. The tendency towards denial, and the “normalcy bias” forced them from the public mind, and survivalists were outliers. The fact is that nothing has gotten better or safer in the world in the past decade, and there is no reason to expect them to do so in this century. We hear people talk about a new normal, implying that things will settle down into some less chaotic stable state. This is wishful thinking. Most of the above threats are already happening, and the others are mathematical certainties due to the limits of Earth’s resources, the population density, and consumption rates. The new normal as defined below will tolerate only survivalists.

Normal: a state of continuous, multiple and increasingly devastating natural and manmade disasters and the end of the world as we knew it.

We deeply regret to announce the passing of Keith Allen Simpson at the age of 78. Keith was a valued member and former officer of Live Free USA.  He was a Vietnam War veteran who joined along with several other veterans back in the 1980’s. Keith participated in dozens of events and training activities over four decades, and often made presentations for the members at Camp Independence. Keith is the fifth Live Free current or past Director to pass in the last three years.  He is one of the steadfast supporters that kept us going. He will be sorely missed and long remembered by all. In lieu of flowers the family asks that memorial donations be made to the wounded warrior's project, in Keith's name. Donations can be made at The Wounded Warrior Project.

Live Free periodically analyzes political, technological, environmental, and economic data to establish the most probable threats to life and freedom. There are a few new ones since the last update in 2011.  You have been warned.

As a Certified Hazard Control Manager and experienced student of emergency preparedness methodology, I have written dozens of articles about how to anticipate and prepare for a variety of disaster situations ranging from being lost in the wilderness to being affected by a large scale natural or man-made disaster.  I usually take a broader view of disasters than most writers.  A disaster is defined by how it affects you and your family.  If your house burns down from a misplaced candle or a massive wildfire, it’s still a disaster for you.  If you die from a personal ailment or from a pandemic pathogen, you are still dead.  Thus, I include home safety, and health issues in most of my threat matrix articles, and I will continue to advocate for good home safety and personal health maintenance as the foundation of survival preparedness.  In this article I will focus on the more traditional definition of “disaster”, a wide spread event that has absolute and unfavorable effects on the general population and infrastructure.  In comparison to personal disasters where you have more prevention, rescue and recovery potential, these disasters are usually beyond your control to prevent, and you cannot be dependent on external help.  My “top ten” probable disasters for this century, based on probability and potential harm are listed below.  Note that some are large-scale, cataclysmic events, while others are trends and developments happening now. It is also important to keep in mind that all of these situations negatively affect the probability and the severity of the others.

As a Certified Hazard Control Manager and experienced student of emergency preparedness methodology, I have written dozens of articles about how to anticipate and prepare for a variety of disaster situations ranging from being lost in the wilderness to being affected by a large scale natural or man-made disaster.  I usually take a broader view of disasters than most writers.  A disaster is defined by how it affects you and your family.  If your house burns down from a misplaced candle or a massive wildfire, it’s still a disaster for you.  If you die from a personal ailment or from a pandemic pathogen, you are still dead.  Thus, I include home safety, and health issues in most of my threat matrix articles, and I will continue to advocate for good home safety and personal health maintenance as the foundation of survival preparedness.  In this article I will focus on the more traditional definition of “disaster”, a wide spread event that has absolute and unfavorable effects on the general population and infrastructure.  In comparison to personal disasters where you have more prevention, rescue and recovery potential, these disasters are usually beyond your control to prevent, and you cannot be dependent on external help.  My “top ten” probable disasters for this century, based on probability and potential harm are listed below.  Note that some are large-scale, cataclysmic events, while others are trends and developments happening now. It is also important to keep in mind that all of these situations negatively affect the probability and the severity of the others.

Pandemic #2, #3...

There is no mathematical or logical reason that precludes the probability of another type of pandemic in the next few years. The chances of a pandemic in 2021 are exactly the same as they were in 2019.  The same issues of population density, migration and travel that existed before 2020 will exist as we go into the future decades. Unless or until war or pandemic actually reduces the population by a very significant percentage, the threat will remain and grow. No doubt, terrorists and extremists will have noted the effectiveness of this pandemic on America and the West and may work to deliberately develop and distribute even more virulent and deadly pathogens.  While we will be more vigilant and better prepared for future pandemics in the near future, apathy and the demands of other priorities will inevitably degrade preparedness over the coming years.  Other pathogens may have entirely different pathologies and require different methods of control and treatment, rendering stocks of equipment from the coronavirus useless.   The wise survivor will restock and double stock as if the next pandemic is just around the corner.

Mass Civil Disorder

A certain level of civil disorder were experienced as the pandemic of 2020 progressed.  It was difficult to manage and slow the spread of the disease while hold together the economy. Fear and frustration was often exploited by political agitators, criminals and even foreign influences to create division and encourage destructive acts. The internet and social-media facilitated hate and conspiracy theories when reason and analysis were most needed.  While the police and fire departments were still able to function, many of their members were debilitated and even killed by the virus.  The stress of putting their own families at risk to protect the general public did cause some disruptions and reduction in their capability, but it could be much worse in the future.  The anti-police rhetoric and misguided political actions immediately resulted in dramatic increases in violent crime in New York, Chicago and other cities, and the massive economic cost of the pandemic is bound to negatively affect the budgets for police and fire protection in every town and city.  Most locations will be hard-pressed to maintain public safety services and equipment after the pandemic, much less improve them to meet future challenges.  Trained employees at municipal water, power and sanitary facilities were also affected and in some cases threatened to walk-off the jobs if not given extra pay and protection.  The food supply chain sputtered and showed signs of failure as transportation, packing and retail employees became ill due to increased exposure.  The failure of one or more survival critical services to high-density urban and suburban regions for more than a few days would lead to panic, looting and general lawlessness.  Civil disorder in one or two major cities could be controlled by the reallocation of resources and the National Guard, but the spread of civil disorder throughout the country would leave citizen lives and property totally unprotected.  The damage could leave most regions devastated to the level of the third world.  Such a scenario is more likely now than it was just a year ago, so the survivor must not only be able to survive without help, they must also be able to protect their own lives, freedom, and property against malevolent and violent elements.

Economic Collapse

The health of an economy is determined by its productivity.  When the people are able to produce what is needed and purchase what they need we have a stable economy.  Even before the pandemic the world economy was a house of cards, only sustained by automation and economic manipulation. The stability of national economies can be measured by the national debt vs the nations productivity (GDP). Here are some examples China has a 1.6 trillion dollar debt with a 297 percent debt vs GDP gap. The US has a whopping 25 trillion dollar debt* with a 106.2 percent GDP gap. Japan has a 12.2 trillion dollar debt against a 237 percent gap. Simply put the world owes more than it can pay and does not have the natural resources to support seven-billion people in anything like health and comfort.  Automation has made simple labor less and less valuable and shifted wealth and power to a smaller and smaller number of nations and individuals. While the pandemic practically stopped the production of real produced wealth, trillions dollars in paper wealth were printed and distributed. Less than nine-percent of the worlds wealth exists in any solid (gold, paper) form the remaining ninety-one percent is just ones and zero in computers that has value only as long as people believe it has value.  Ultimately the gap (canyon) between our economic illusion and economic reality must lead to a very traumatic adjustment.  Sustained depression, massive losses, draconian taxation, high inflation rates, wealth confiscation, and totalitarian government may arise.  Gold, diamonds and currency will be worthless, while hard goods and necessities will be the only true currency.  Unfortunately: those who have made themselves self-reliant and in possession of needed supplies will be targets of hatred by the public and persecution by the state.  Ultimately: only strong networks and alliances among self-reliance practitioners and responsible citizens will suffice to preserve life, freedom and property against   annihilation.

*The US debt to China is 4.3 Trillion dollars alone

Climate Change

Regardless of the cause, climate change is a reality that must be faced and survived throughout the coming decades. All ten of the worst weather related catastrophes in US history have occurred since 1992 with a steadily increasing frequency and severity. In addition to creating droughts, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and violent storms, it will exacerbate international conflicts, famines, mass migrations and economic problems throughout the world. The already weakened economies’ of most nations will render it impossible to cope with these disasters.  As a result the world’s capacity to support the current and future populations will continue to decline. We can anticipate living in a more meteorologically violent and unpredictable world while we cope with other threats. The survivor must shift life styles and priorities to meet this evolving situation over decades, while also being better prepared to survive more frequent storms, floods, and other local and regional disasters.  The ability to evacuate is particularly important for these kinds of threats.

Nuclear War

While there was a briefed relaxation of the potential for a nuclear exchange after the fall of the Soviet Union, that potential has returned, and is even greater today than it was in the 1980’s. Today’s nuclear delivery systems include hypersonic cruise missiles, stealth drones, hypersonic reentry warheads, and multiple warhead ballistic missiles. The new Chinese Dong-feng 41 missile has a range of 9,400 miles and speed of 25 times the speed of sound.  The new weapons are unstoppable and can reach any point in the US within thirty-minutes of launch. Current estimates are that China has 280 warheads, Russia has 6,850, and the US has 6,450, and it only takes one to start Armageddon.  In addition, we have India, Pakistan, Israel, North Korea, France and Great Brittan in possession of nuclear weapons that could be accidentally or deliberately detonated or stolen by terrorists. Famines, pandemics, disputes over dwindling resources, and general political instability could easily result in an escalating nuclear exchange. While blast sheltering may be impractical, the ability to evacuate and to detect and survive fallout are still important survival skills.  Any significant nuclear exchange would trigger all of the other listed disasters.

Famine

California, one of the world richest food producing areas, has lost over 30 percent of its cropland due to the ongoing drought.  The major aquafers that supply the water for crops in Africa, India and the American Midwest are drying up. Food shortages brought riots to Africa in 2010-2011 and food shortages had a part in the disastrous “Arab Spring” movement that eventually generated ISIS.   At this point the earth hosts over 7.3 billion people and this number will reach 9.7 billion by 2050 with the global demand for food rising by 50 percent above current levels. America loses one-percent or more of farmland to development annually. By the end of the twenty-first century (if we get there) the population will top 15 billion. To imagine that food production will ever be able to keep up with this demand is preposterous.  We cannot even feed the current population in many countries. China’s experiment with food production in Africa has been a total failure. Back in the 1990’s when the Soviet Union collapsed and stopped subsidizing North Korean agriculture over one-million Koreans died within a few years and they continue to die now. The whole world agricultural capacity is fragile and dependent on cheap water, cheap fertilizers (mostly based on petroleum) and cheap fuel to run massive machinery.  All of these elements are at or near the breaking point.  The pandemic clearly demonstrated the vulnerability of the food distribution system throughout the world. There can be no doubt that the issue of food supplies will become the major political, economic, military, and survival issue in the coming decades.  Despotic states and criminal black-market cartels may use food as a weapon to subjugate populations and facilitate oppression.  The ability to feed one’s self and one’s family is the foundation of survival and freedom.

Artificial Intelligence Domination

This threat was not seriously on my radar until recently, but must be considered as a threat to human life and freedom as we know it.  While computers were first thought to be the means to save us time and improve our lives and social opportunities, the technology has been used to waste our time and prevent intelligent, and productive social interaction. Technology is (intentionally or unintentionally) destroying human society and replacing it with a virtual society controlled by programs and logarithms. China leads the world in thought control and total surveillance of society through facial recognition, intelligent drones, and cameras everywhere, but they are exporting this technology to western nations on a massive scale.  I like to call people who have a Pavlovian need to respond to their phone or a text and go about with their smart phone on 24/7 “oblivions” who live in a virtual would rather than the real one around them.  It is interesting, and perhaps frightening to note that according to scientific studies human intelligence has been in decline for several decades, while computer power has recently surpassed that of the human brain. Moore’s law states that computer power doubles every 18 to 24 months. Artificial intelligence now engages in so-called “deep learnings” and acts on its own initiatives without human direction.  Computers learn and improve exponentially while the human brain improves only linearly. The human brain calculates a bit slower than the speed of light, while quantum computers calculate at thousands of times the speed of light*. Do the math. See the future.

* Due to something called “quantum-entanglement” it is actually possible to calculate and communicate faster than the speed of light.

Cyber Attack, EMP, Grid Failure

Cyber warfare has been in progress between the nations of the world for several decades.  Since America is the richest and most cyber dependent nation in the world, it is the major target for all types of cyber-attacks.  Targets for cyber-attacks include the electrical power grid, power generation systems, water distribution facilities, sewer systems, medical facilities, police and fire protection agencies, the military, and the financial infrastructure.  Artificially intelligent viruses can be programed to travel through the internet, lie in wait and then destroy a system or systems at a given time. Yes, they can be there right now hidden in programs. As with real viruses, computer viruses can be accidentally created and unleashed as well. Such viruses can bypass safety systems to destroy generators, oil refineries, nuclear facilities, water pumps and hospital equipment.  An attack on railroad, or air traffic control systems could result in significant death and destruction. Most of the world’s wealth exists as data in computers that could just disappear. Backup systems and air-gapped systems provide some protection, but recent events have demonstrated how these safeguards can be bypassed. Experts estimate that if the electrical grid in the United States was down for ten to twelve months ninety-percent of the population would die from the various affects.

Electromagnetic pulses (EMP) can destroy computers and other electronic devices, if unprotected. A large scale EMP could even disable vehicles, aircraft and municipal service systems. Nuclear weapons generate powerful EMP’s.  Solar events can generate EMP’s powerful enough to damage power grids, communication systems and unprotected electronic devices. The military has developed drones and portable devices that can target specific areas with powerful EMPs.  Terrorists can probably create EMT weapons as well.  The United States, Russia and China are in a race to create the first true quantum computer.  Such a computer would make all military and financial computers instantly obsolete and unlock every security system.  While an ordinary “super computer” could take many years to try every possible combination of words, letters and numbers in any potential password combination, a quantum computer could try hundreds of billions of combinations in a few minutes.

Cyberwarfare, along with economic warfare, disinformation through social media, drug importation, and political agitation are all part of the asymmetric warfare campaigns being waged against free societies throughout the world.  The individual must avoid dependency on personal digital systems and on the infrastructure that depends on them.  Backup data to isolated storage, keep hard copies, and keep electronic devices in faraday cages when possible.

Revolution and Civil War

The United States Government is the oldest and most stable government in the world today.  All of the governments of Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle-East have fallen and risen several times while the USA has stood and prospered.  While many Americans attribute this to our values and the genius of our Constitution there are other factors that have historically contributed to our stability.

• America maintained strong values of community, responsibility, self-reliance and patriotism regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. We were all Americans first.
• While there were natural inequities in wealth distribution they were not nearly as extreme as they are today. A large, contented and socially responsible middle class still existed.
• America and Americans were not subject to the constant divisive and toxic effects of the internet and social media.

None of these stabilizing factors are true today. Multi-ethnic societies are inherently unstable.  There is no longer an unlimited amount of real-estate, resources or jobs to absorbed even internal population growth.  We are involved with and influenced by divisive and confusing foreign involvements and intrigues. Today’s American is more self-centered, dependency-oriented and less involved in community than any previous generation.  The decades of centralized, big government have replaced responsibility with demanding, demonstrating and blame finding.  The gap between the poor and the ultra-wealthy is disgraceful and growing. The internet now facilitates division rather than unity, conflict rather than discussion and even violence in place of the political process.  Respect for the law and for American values has all but disappeared in many regions.  These are harbingers of future revolutionary developments. Armed demonstrations against the pandemic lockdowns and anti-gun legislation is a harbinger of future revolts. The growing sanctuary movement where counties*, and whole states are prepared to defy higher authorities is an indicator of massive discontent and defiance. There is a growing number of religious, racial and political elements that are quietly preparing for such a catastrophe.  There is a line in an old movie* about South American revolutions.  The General storms into the presidential palace proclaiming “El Presidente, the rebels are in the suburbs!” to which the dictator says “the rebels are always in the suburbs”. We are becoming more like one of these “Banana Republics”

* In Virginia 91 out of the 95 counties passed resolution defying the states gun laws.

Terrorist attacks

While the number of terrorist attacks has temporarily declined, the effects of potential terrorist attacks continues. The cost of “the war on terror” and the massive security measures throughout society has drained hundreds of billions from the national economies that could have been used to rebuild our infrastructure, and reduce our national dept. The terrorists won and continue to win as they affect our lives and our national economy.  We can be certain that the recent pandemic has provided terrorist with another weapon to disseminate fear and confusion. Economic challenges will impact the poor and minority communities making them susceptible to radicalization and extremist activities.  Economic decline can necessitate cuts in military spending, and the budgets for police and fire protection that may provide opportunities for extremist groups to better organize and plan activities.  Criminal gangs and cartels should be included as terrorists, and can be expected to grow in power and audacity as law-and-order weakens.  In third world nations the gangs and cartels are the true government, controlling the black-market, and offering safety for a price. Only a vigilant, prepared and armed population can prevent the rise of terror and crime in the future

Conclusion

The possibility of a world-wide disaster can no-longer be in doubt, as one of the above disasters has already occurred and several others are developing as we speak.  Each threat scenario affects the probability and potential severity of the others.  Some of the above threats occur suddenly, while others develop insidiously over the years. At this point only the most foolish would ignore these threats and fail to make a concerted effort to avoid, mitigate and survive their effects. While it is difficult to predict which one will happen next or in what order such events could occur, but we must all recognize the fragility of our civilization and necessity of constant vigilance and dedicated preparedness.

The Alien Sedition Act of 1789 forbade publication of malicious and scandalous writings against the United States Government.  In response to this unconstitutional violation of  rights, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison initiated what was called the Virginia and Kentucky Resolution they calling for the "Nullification" of Federal laws, by the States when such laws were deemed to be unjust.  Some interpreted them as a threat of insurrection and civil war.  Fortunately they were never tested and the Alien and Sedition Laws were allowed to expire.  One wonders if the concept of state "nullification" may rise again if Federal overreach occurs.  The article below was published in the Jan/Feb issue of American Survivor.  Live Free members get a new issue semimonthly.  We have constantly for told of the current challenges to life and freedom and how to cope with them.  JOIN NOW!

There should be no confusion about N95 respirators providing protection against Covid-19 infection. If worn properly and consistently, they prevent inspiration and expiration of the SARS-CoV2 virus that causes Covid-19, end of story, full stop. This is not my opinion, it is my “expert” opinion.  Unlike most of the internet gurus and purveyors of conspiracy theories, I actually have qualifications and training related to respiratory protection. I have certificated training from both OSHA and the American Society of Safety Engineers. I specified, fit tested and trained people for respiratory protection from N95 respirators, through full-face filter respirators and Self Contained Breathing Apparatus as a Safety Manager for a major chemical company. I also trained in appropriate biological respiratory protection as an EMT.

The N95 Respirator

These are true respirators not just masks. When worn according to the instruction on the box they provide very effective protection against airborne pathogens, toxic dust particles, soot, and toxic mist droplets. They also provide effective protection against inhalation of radioactive dust particles. They do not provide protection against poison gasses such as chlorine, ammonia or carbon monoxide.  Unless you anticipate a poison gas attack or a chemical spill scenario, an N95 is all you need. They are cheap and easy to have with you.  While they are classified as “disposable” they can be decontaminated with exposure too UV light including sunlight.  They should be stored in plastic bags when not on use.

The reason that the CDC and other agencies did not emphasize N95 respirators at the start of the pandemic is because (1) they wanted to hoard enough for medical professional and (2) there was already a shortage because China had bought up huge quantities before letting the world know about Covid-19.  You saw everyone in China wearing N95 masks back in March. China’s draconian mandating of wearing mask brought the pandemic under control much faster than in other countries.  While I would not advocate such a mandate in a free country, that should have been a strong recommendation for Americans from the start*. I had about twenty-five N95’s at home in January and managed to buy one more box of twenty in late March. N95 respirators are the gold standard for use by medical professionals who are exposed to airborne pathogen all day that should tell you all you need to know.

Some people claim that they can’t breathe while wearing these respirators. Unless you have a very serious respiratory illness, this is mainly psychological. I trained employees who wore these masks continuously for hours of hard work in hot conditions. At 79-years of age I wear N95’s throughout full workouts at the fitness center.

Face Masks

Since the professionals and smart survivors had already grabbed up the available N95’s a number of alternative masks came into use. Common blue surgical mask are designed to prevent pathogens from the mouth and nose of surgeons and other ER and OR personnel from infecting patients who are in an otherwise sterile environment.  They are not intended as “respiratory protection’ but provide limited protection against inspiration of pathogens.  Some versions have a double-layer that provides better protection. Soft cloth mask in various designs seem to be the most popular choice.  If worn tightly against the face, these should be good enough for protection against coughs, and breaths carrying at virus. Those with a double layer of cloth are best

Bandannas and Neck Gators

In my books I recommend carrying a bandanna as an “everyday carry” items for use as a bandage, tourniquet, and last resort respirator, but it is no substitute for an N95 or even a good cloth face mask. Neck gators are also inadequate.  The best I can say for them is that they are BTN (better than nothing) in an emergency. They may meet the letter of the “face mask required” regulation, but you are fooling yourself if you think they are as effective as cloth masks or true respiratory.

Gas Masks and Half-Face Filter Respirators

While these devices are effective, they are bulky, uncomfortable and difficult to fit properly, while offering no more effective protection than the light weight N95 respirators.  Gas masks are for gas!  Unless you live down wind of a hazardous chemical facility they are a waste of money.

Conclusion

Respiratory protection is a very effective way to avoid contracting Coved-19, and any other airborne pathogen.  N95 respirators are the best choice for respiratory protection, but cloth masks and surgical masks are certainly better than no protection when N95’s are unavailable.  As the pandemic subsides, I will be restocking my survival supplies with N95 respirators. So should you.

*If the government had prohibited the wearing of masks or respirators, I would have defied that order, because it’s just smart survival practice to wear them.

Brian was one of a group that joined Live Free USA in the early 1980’s after we had been featured on numerous TV and radio programs in the Chicago area.  Brian was a Vietnam veteran, a French and Indian war reenactor, and a certified Live Free Survival Instructor. Brian served as an officer of Live Free for many years, and was the leader of the remaining Southwest Chicago Live Free chapter. We remember many an adventure and many campfire times with Brian. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Brian passed just a few days after the passing of his wife Diane, and is survived by his son Jason. This is the third Live Free core group member that has left use within the past 18 months.

We recently updated our well known Preparedness Overview flyer that we distribute at our meetings and presentations.  anyone is welcome to reprint this as a public service.

The Special Edition of American Survivor is distributed free at preparedness expos and events as a sample of our membership newsletter.  American Survivor is the oldest and most respected survival/preparedness publication in the USA, and has been especially accurate in predicting the  pandemic, civil unrest, severe weather and economic decline in recent times.  More importantly it has provided information on how to prepare for and survive these and other challenges now and in the future. Online members have access to over seventy back issues of American Survivor as well as each new issue as it is published. Members can also opt for hard-copy mailing.

Recent articles in American Survivor included: Revolution and Civil War (July 2020), Is America Headed for Another Revolution? (Jan/Feb. 219), and Decent Into Chaos (Jan/Feb 2015). Unfortunately these articles were far more accurate than we would have guessed. As a result, it may be timely to publish a modified version of the chapter in my recent book devoted to "Military Skills for the Survivalist". Note: the book is 150 Survival Secrets, by James C. Jones from Skyhorse  publishing of NY and covers many controversial and challenging survival subjects.

• Preparedness Overview Flyer, 12-10
• American Survivor Special,3-15
• Military Skills for Survival,12-18

My childhood experiences make me predisposed to detect and expect survival challenges, and my career as a Hazard Control Manager provide me with the training, tools and experience to anticipate threats to safety and survival.  In the midst of an ongoing pandemic, I can foresee further challenges in the months and years ahead, and while I hope that the optimistic predictions of politicians come true, I am obligated to share the following observations.

• There is no logical or statistical reason to expect that another epidemic or other disaster is less likely to occur next year or in a few years. In fact a weakened infrastructure and economy makes further disasters more probable.
• While the effects of the lockdown and distancing combined with the warmer weather may reduce the spread of the virus through the summer months, the virus isn’t going away. Cooler weather combined with public apathy is bound to result in a resurgence   of the epidemic later in the year.  Better testing and better preparedness will help, but the number of infected persons who can spread the virus will be much greater in September than it was at the beginning of the outbreak, so a fast jump in cases could result.  The CDC has warned that the potential second wave could be “far more deadly” that the first. The effects of a second lockdown in winter could be truly catastrophic.
• As of May the US had about 900,000 known cases of Covid-19 and 52,000 resulting deaths. Extending those rates through the summer could give us 2,000,000. Cases and 100,000. Deaths. Adding the expected winter bump could bring us to 4,000,000 cases and over 150,000 deaths, a truly horrific possibility.
• The promise of a vaccine in twelve to eighteen months may be overly optimistic. There still is no vaccine for SARS, MERS, Avian Flue, or Ebola and they have been around for many years. Early results indicate that those who have recovered from Covid-19 may not be immune to future infection. This virus could be around for several more years or indefinitely
• I totally agree that the economy cannot sustain a full lockdown for an indefinite period of time, but as a trained industrial hygienist and EMT I totally agree that expanded human contact will cost thousands of American lives. We absolutely have the right to gather, assemble, and work, but we absolutely have the patriotic duty to voluntarily observe distancing and other precautions to protect ourselves, our families and our fellow Americans. Don’t do it because of orders, do it because you care about others.
• As expected the Russians and the Chinese are actively using social media to promote confusing and divisive narratives and conspiracy theories to weaken and divided America and deflect blame. The Chinese laugh while we point fingers at each other and argue about social distancing and whose fault the pandemic is. It’s the fault of China and the Chinese Communist Party, end of story.  We can expect the Democratic Party to focus attacks on Republicans for the spread of the virus and imply that they could do better. Of course it’s always easy to play political games with 20/20 hindsight and no actual involvement in the crisis.  Again: no one will be blaming the Chinese.
• At this point our whole infrastructure, economy and society is unstable and weakened to the point where another major event such as a terrorist attack, cyber-attack, or political upheaval could result in the collapse of western civilization. Our enemies know this.
• In late April the Chicago Police had to break up over one thousand incidents of mass assemblages of youths on the streets. While there were only a few arrests and minor resistance, this was in cool weather after only a few weeks of the lockdown. What will happen when the weather gets hot and the lockdown has continued for several months?  We can anticipate that gangs, agitators and opportunists will try to incite violence and looting on a massive scale. This was as we predicted, but the police misconduct incident served as a detonator.  The massive street demonstrations were as much about pent-up lock-down fatigue as it was about the police issue.  We can now expect a continuation of street protests and violence around the conventions and elections.  All of this will perpetuate and spread the virus.

When and if it’s Over

The German psychologist Carl Jung (1875-1961) stated that “The most intense conflicts if overcome, leave behind a sense of security and calm that is not easily disturbed”.  He was describing the dangerous false sense of security and tendency towards apathy and denial that is a part of human nature. In the aftermath of this pandemic we will be in uncharted territory with a devastated economy, a chaotic political and social infrastructure and all of the remaining threats such as terrorism, war, revolution, natural disasters, and famine still in place.  While the tendency may be to rejoice and relax, the necessity must be to be vigilant and rededicated to preparedness, survival education and self-reliance.  American life and freedom cannot survive another massive calamity if the public is unaware, unorganized and unprepared

We Saw This Coming and More

The following paragraph is from my article titled “Human Extinction” published in American Survivor newsletter in September of 2018*.  The point of the article was that we have over seven billion people on a planet that scientists calculate can only support about five billion people, and that nature and human nature would inevitably start to correct this imbalance through a number of catastrophic trends and event, one of which would be pandemics.  I also demonstrated how each disaster would cause a cascade effect that would create additional and worsening disasters.  Many readers felt that I was going too far with such grime analyses, but I am cursed with the necessity of logic over wishful thinking.

Impending Epidemics

The horrible reality is that epidemics, wars and famine are the most likely way that the population will be reduced.  The population density, migration and travel have set the stage for a world-wide epidemic that could kill millions or even billions. The source could be a deliberate act, a laboratory accident or simply a natural mutation of an existing pathogen. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) and the WHO (World Health Organization) agree that it is not a matter of if, but when this happens. When this occurs it will crash the already fragile economy, cause the infrastructure (police, fire, medical, sanitation, food delivery, electrical power and water pumping) in many cities to shut down for lack of personnel. Civil disorder and outright revolution may follow. The reduced population might or might not be able to recover civilization.

And here we are!

The new May/June PANDEMIC SPECIAL ISSUE of American Survivor has been posted as a PDF to the Members Only/American Survivor page for paid members.  

Also:  the new Live Free USA Members Handbook PDF has been posted to the Members Only/Special Publications page.  This is a 62 page document that includes information about Live Free's mission, operations, history and organization as well as practical survival and preparedness articles from over fifty years of experience as America's first and best survival preparedness education organization.  The contents is listed below.

Section One Membership

1. History of Live Free USA
2. Members Pledge
3. Ten Foundations of Membership
4. Bylaws Abridged and Explained
5. The Live Free Shield (logo)
6. The Live Free Motto
7. The Brotherhood of the Survival Pack
8. The Order of the Firewatch
9. We Are Survivalists
10. Personal Declaration of Independence
11. Organizing a Survival Team
12. Live Free Chapters and Affiliated Groups

Section Two Survival and Preparedness

1. Preparedness Overview
2. The Ten Principles of Survival
3. Personal Preparedness Scoresheet
4. Home Safety Checklist
5. Eight Medical Skills
6. Everyday Carry Items List
7. Bedside Drawer List
8. Surviving the First Seventy-two Hours
9. Home Survival Gear List
10. Vehicle Emergency Gear List
11. Outdoor Survival Pack List
12. Get Home Bag List
13. Evacuation Pack List
14. Bugout/Survival Pack List

A printed version will be available later this year.

Just after we printed American Survivor in April, we were notified that Tom Garza had passed away from a heart attack on April 7th at the age of 57.   Tom attended one of our meeting several years ago and became an enthusiastic and active member.  Tom became involved in our programs and was a generous supporter.  Both of Tom’s sons, Zach and Will, became members.  All three of them were elected to Offices on the Live Free USA Board of Directors in 2019.  Tom became a friend to many of us, and his knowledge, leadership and calm presence will be missed.

Thomas A. “TAG” Garza of Hebron, Indiana passed into God’s Kingdom early in the morning of April 7^th. He was 57 years old.  He was a faithful man of God dedicated to walking the in the light of the Lord and studying his word. He leaves behind his wife of 35 years, Justine M. Garza (O’Connor), and sons Thomas Zachary & William Joseph Garza. He was born on December 26, 1962, in Hammond, IN, the son of Therese Cesar and the late Jesse Garza.  He was a loving brother to his five siblings: Susan, Joseph, William, Daniel, and the late Robert Garza.  He graduated from: Munster High School in Munster, IN; Indiana University, Bloomington, IN; The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. He was an American patriot who served in the U.S. Army as a Captain.  He worked as a commercial banker for the first 20 years of his career before leaving the corporate world to build his own company with his two sons and wife by his side. Throughout his life he belonged to many organizations including The Chicago Athletic Association, The University Club of Chicago, Beta Gamma Sigma and more. Most recently he sat on the board of LiveFree USA the nation’s oldest preparedness organization. Due to the current CCP virus pandemic, the memorial service will be held at a later date.  Please visit www.TomGarza.com to sign up for email notifications, share your favorite TAG story, and make donations to the TAG (That Awesome Guy) Memorial Fund in lieu of flowers.  You can also share your favorite TAG story by calling (254) TAG-TALK (824-8255).

“Enjoy it while you can. Weather the storms when you can’t. Cherish and pursue God and each other throughout.”

– TAG

When the current crisis is past the odds of another pandemic or other world-wide emergency are exactly the same as they were the day before this one started. There is absolutely no excuse for a sigh of relief, or period of apathy.

I was talking with a few long-time members a few weeks before the coronavirus outbreak prohibited meetings and closed the stores. I mentioned that I had a stock of N95 masks and latex gloves at home and a few in my pockets.  I said “as am sure you all do too”, but instead of hearing “oh yea” or “absolutely” I got uncomfortable silence.  I realized that while I had gotten lip service, nods and even applause for my books, articles and presentations, many had ignored or procrastinated on actually following my recommendations.  Of course, by the time of that conversation N95 respirators and latex gloves were already impossible to find.  Yes! I actually meant that people needed to do the things that I advocated NOW (years ago) not wait until the emergencies occurred.  As a Safety Manager in industry, I was constantly fighting to keep employees safe by wearing safety-glasses, and safety-shoes. The employee’s priority was comfort over safety, until it was too late.  While in Oakland California examining how the factory there was recovering from the 1994 Northridge earthquake, I visited a local big-box store, and found earthquake preparedness kits on a “closeout sale” collecting dust as apathy had already set in.  Over my fifty-plus years of advocating, writing about, and teaching emergency preparedness I have been subject to disparagement and even derision.  It is human nature to not want to think about bad things. It is human nature to put off preparedness in favor of immediate needs. Disasters are things that happen to other people at other times, right?

Nature and human nature dictate that there will be a next major emergency and human nature dictates that many humans will not be prepared for it. Natural disasters are just nature’s way of adjusting geological, and biological imbalances. It’s nothing personal, but nature doesn’t care what gets destroyed (civilization) or what gets killed (us) in the proses.  Man-made disasters are the product of human pride, complacency, greed, hubris and arrogance. We make them happen or we let them happen and we make them worse. They are unavoidable because humans are human.

History tells us that after major disasters a period of lethargy and over confidence sets in.  It is natural for people and governments to focus on preparing for the most recent disaster at the expense of recognizing and preparing for other types of threats. FEMA was focused on the nuclear threat when 9/11 happened, they were prepared for Terrorism when Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. They have been focused on climate related issues until the pandemic. We can be sure that FEMA will focus on being more prepared for the next (there will be a next) pandemic, they will be less prepared for other mass disasters including cyber-attacks, nuclear events, mass civil disorder and other “surprise disasters”.  Disasters are by nature, unpredictable in character and scope, and it is impossible for any national or state government to have everything and everyone needed to respond to every possible scenario.  In reality a major disaster like the current one will deplete resources, damage the economy, and create social instability, that makes further disasters more likely.

For those of you who ignored our recommendations in the past and were lucky enough to get through this disaster, now is the time to get serious about preparedness!  You have survived a “near miss” that should be a wakeup call not an excuse for complacency and procrastination.  You have been granted this opportunity to save yourself and your family in the future. Some get a second chance, few get a third.

  For those of you who were prepared and used your acquired skills and equipment to ride out the virus and the secondary effects of shortages, disorder, and unemployment, this is the time to restock and rededicate to preparedness like never before. The next disaster could be next week, next year or a few years off, and yes it could be even worse and of longer duration.

Again: being able to shelter in place and survive completely isolated from society and completely independent of the grid for food, water, sanitation, medical care, police protection, and other critical needs for from 60 to 90 days (minimum)  is the ONLY way to survive most serious emergencies.

Again: being able to evacuate from your home and community in the event that your home is destroyed or unsafe is a necessity, but should be avoided when possible.

Surviving one disaster does not make you any safer or less likely to be faced with another-one, but it should make you smarter tougher and more prepared

While you can’t shoot a virus or a hurricane, civil unrest often follows any kind of disaster and may kill as many or more than the original cause of a disaster. Having some form of firearm available must be part of your preparedness. Socio-economic disruption generates increased crime and the potential for civil disorder when police response may be limited or unavailable. I such cases you are responsible for the protection of your own life and that of loved ones.

Finally: we hope that we will receive more support from the public and more active support from our members after this first example of the new normal for the twenty-first century.  Membership has been declining for the past several years and members (even officers) have put very few hours into helping us. We are the only not-for-profit, tax-deductible organization dedicated to promoting individual and family emergency preparedness, yet our future survival is in doubt?  We have never received a sponsorship, grant or significant contribution.  We can only hope to be around to inform and educate good citizens to face future survival challenges.

What Has Past Is Prologue

It’s not like we didn’t see this coming. The inevitably of a world-wide pandemic has been addressed in multiple ways for the past decade in issues of American Survivor. These back issues are available to all online members.

• Asymmetrical Disaster, May/June 2019
• Hunkering Down or Bugging Out: Jan/Feb 2019
• Almost Human Extinction, Sept/Oct 2018
• Surprise Disasters, July/Aug 2017
• How Prepared is America, Sept/Oct 2016
• Descent into Chaos, Jan/Feb 2015
• Ebola and Other Frights, Nov/Dec 2014
• Aftermath: Recovery from Disaster, Nov/Dec 2014
• Viruses: Double Trouble for Humanity, May June 2013
• Practical Hazmat Protection (including decontamination, proper us of N95 masks and six ways to protect against Nuclear, Chemical and Biological contamination) ,May/June 2012

A world-wide pandemic has been one of the survival challenges addressed in numerous articles in this publication over the past several decades. I will not review all of the information and disinformation related to this specific pandemic event, but must assure readers that it will not be the last. Overpopulation, urbanization and massive international travel virtually guarantee new pandemics within the next decade or two.  I will remind all that scientists calculate the earth capacity to support civilized human population at around four-billion, while we have over seven-billion.  At some point nature and human nature will begin to put the brakes on population growth and probably reduce it significantly.  In fact some studies predicted that the population at the end of the twenty-first century may be close to what it was at the start of the twentieth-century. Pandemics, famines, shortages, and conflicts are inevitable. Our interlocked centralized systems create a domino effect that has been clearly demonstrated during the Coronavirus pandemic event.  Even while the actual number of infections and deaths was far below that of the common flu, panic has generated a stock market crisis, and even some violence and looting. At this writing it is difficult to anticipate the full impact of this current pandemic, but I will enumerate the potential for this or for the next pandemic.

• Hospitals and medical facilities will be overwhelmed leaving those who need care for other medical emergencies to suffer or even die.
• Hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and clinics will be hot-beds for transmission of the pathogen, and will be abandoned or quarantined.
• Those requiring life sustaining care or medications may be unable to obtain it.
• Medications, respirators, and cleaning supplies will be unavailable.
• The shortages of respirators and protective clothing for workers in the chemical, medical and construction trades will result in layoffs and unemployment and the unavailability of products.
• Vital services will be affected as medical personnel, firefighters, and police become ill or stay home to protect their families.
• Delivery of groceries may be slow as drivers are affected by the illness.
• Business will close and the stock market will fall into recession.

If the pandemic is sustained and the mortality rate is high

• The stock market will crash
• Stores and warehouses will be looted
• Civil disorder may break out in urban areas.
• Garbage pickup, water pump maintenance and electrical grid maintenance may be affected by employee absences and civil disorder.
• Political unrest and oppression may develop.

Not all of the above effects may develop this time, but must be anticipated and prepared for.  Of course the chances of another pandemic occurring in a few years after this one are exactly the same as they were before this one, so preparedness is just as important going forward.

Epidemics and pandemics can also be the secondary result of civil unrest, the breakdown of sanitation services, shortages and economic chaos. Even a cyber-attack, electromagnetic pulse, or grid failure could lead to a pandemic and of course there is the potential for a deliberate distribution of pathogens by terrorists or hostile nations.   With that in mind let’s review viral diseases in general and some of the methods for prevention and treatment of viral diseases.

Viruses are much smaller than bacteria and are made up of a material with an exterior protein. Viruses cannot make their own protein like most other cells, and therefore are dependent on a host for survival. Each virus targets a specific body organ such as the lungs, liver or even the blood.  Viruses are not affected by antibiotics.  The best protection against viruses is a strong immune system and good personal hygiene.  While some viruses such as measles, rubella, mumps, and smallpox and polio are preventable through vaccination other are not.  Vaccinations for various forms of flu and pneumonia are only partially effective. The following is only a partial list of the most common viruses.

• Influenza
• Chickenpox
• HIV
• Ebola
• Polio
• Mumps
• Hepatitis
• Shingles
• Lyme disease
• Smallpox
• Measles
• Herpes
• Some types of colds

Viruses can be transmitted from contact with infected animals such as birds, pigs, bats, rodents, dogs, horses. Other viruses can be transmitted from animal bites, and insect bites such as tics, flies, mosquitos and lice.  Human transmission can result from skin contact, oral contact, and sexual contact and close respiratory contact, such as coughing.  Viruses can survive in air for as long as three hours and on surfaces for two-to-three days to infect others who touch them.

Vitamins for Prevention and Treatment

It has been found that low levels of Vitamin D3 resulted in increased vulnerability to cold and flu. A strong correlation has been found between those with TB, and hepatitis C., and Vitamin D3 deficiencies. Vitamin D3 helps the body make an antibiotic protein called cathelicidin that is known to kill viruses, fungi, parasites and bacteria.  During flu season (during an epidemic) it is recommended to take 50,000 IU daily for the first 5-days and then 5,000 to 10.000 daily the thereafter

More than thirty clinical studies have confirmed the antiviral effects of Vitamin C against a wide range of flu viruses.  Vitamin C inactivates the virus while strengthening the immune systems ability to resist the virus.  The general recommendation is 10.000 mg orally, daily, but some stronger viruses’ (like Corona) may require intravenous doses as high as 100,000 to 150,000 mg.  If IV vitamin C is not available a gradual increase of oral Vitamin C up to 50,000 mg may be possible before bowel tolerance is reached.

Herbal Remedies

A variety of studies have shown that some herbal remedies are effective against some viruses.  Elderberry can be effective against influenza A and B.  Astragulus root is effective against the Coxsackie B virus. Licorice root has been use to treat hepatitis C and HIV.  Olive leaf has been proven effective in the treatment of flu, colds, hepatitis C, malaria, Gonorrhea, and tuberculosis.

Other foods that may be effective in prevention and treatment of viral infections include:

• Wild blueberries
• Sprouts
• Cilantro
• Coconut oil
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Sweet potatoes
• Turmeric
• Kale
• Parsley
• Red clover

Non-Viral Infections

It is important to keep in mind that while most epidemic pathogens are viral, and not affected by antibiotics, but other non-viral pathogens such as Streptococcus, Salmonella, E Coli, Tuberculosis, Cholera , and Bubonic plague may beset the infected victim who may have a weakened immune system, be undernourished, or  exposed to poor sanitation.  For this reason antibiotics should still be kept available.  Antibiotics are available from pet supply stores, fish supply stores, and survival supply outlets.  These are exactly the same products as are prescribed for humans, but at a much lower price, without any prescription required. It is advisable to maintain a supply of these, but they are not to be used for viral infections.

Self-prescribed and obtained antibiotics should be used only when no other alternative is available and serious infections and diseases are evident or imminent.  Antibiotics are most effective against various types of plague pathogens that could be the primary source of an epidemic and against many secondary infections common in disasters    Dosages information can be obtained from the internet, the Merck Manual and are based on the type of disease and patient. Yes, in some cases the survivor may be forced to guess and err on the side of more.  Adult dosages of most antibiotics range from 250 mg to 500 mg every 6 to 10 hours.  Dosage decreases with child ages.

Penicillin is the first antibiotic that was developed in 1928.  It is also the longest over-used and some bacteria have become resistant to it.  Penicillin is generally effective against common Staphylococcus and streptococcus infections as well as Clostridium and Listeria genera.  These common bacterial infections would be anticipated in open wounds and contaminated water and food during a long-running disaster.  About 10% of the population may be allergic to penicillin.

Amoxicillin is effective in treating ear infections, strep throat, pneumonia, skin infections, urinary tract infections and other types of bacterial infections.  It also is used for some kinds of stomach infections. It has been used effectively for people exposed to anthrax.  Its effectiveness against pneumonia and skin infections make it an essential survival medication, since these infections are most common in disasters and nuclear events. Amoxicillin should not be given to those who are allergic to penicillin.

Cephalexin is effective against infections of the middle ear, bones, joints, skin and urinary tract. It can also be used against certain kinds of pneumonia and strep throat. Cephalexin is not effective against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus known as MRSA.

The bottles of antibiotics above were purchased from BUDK  at www.BUDK.COM or call 800-543-5061.  Each bottle contains 30 x 250 mg tablets. Penicillin costs $16.99, Amoxicillin costs $12.99 and the Cephalexin cost $14.99.

Conclusions

While the full effects of the current Coronavirus have yet to be determined, we can anticipate that epidemics and pandemics will be part of the threat-matrix that modern, responsible citizens must prepare for.  Government agencies and the health system will never be fully able to anticipate and react to new pathogens, before they spread and affect the general population.  High population densities, combined with global travel, and immigration guarantee even more lethal outbreaks in the future. Ultimately the individual citizen, family and group must take strong independent preparatory and preventive action to survive the direct effects (illness) of an epidemic, but also the greater secondary effects on the economy and society.  A few key preparedness and preventive actions are listed below

• The ability to isolate yourself from human contact to from 30 to 60 days is the most important and effective way to prevent exposure. This requires that you have sufficient water, food, fuel, medications and other critical supplies in advance.  This is sufficient for the any immediate and passing emergency, but an extended and more lethal event could result in the need for far more well developed and equipped survival and evacuation capacities.
• Maintain general health, weight and exercise greatly improves your chances of surviving any illness. Poor eating habits, lack of exercises, smoking, and neglected health maintenance is an invitation to infections.
• Always have plenty of N95 respirators, hand sanitizer, bleach, and disinfectants on hand.
• Good hygiene including frequent hand washing, and avoidance of touching your face is important.
• Frequently clean all frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs, railings, table tops with a household disinfectant.
• When away from home, clean hands before and after touching shopping carts, door handles, fire arms, money, and other frequently touched surfaces.
• Have a clean handkerchief to cover your mouth when you cough. Carrying a N95 folding respirator is advisable, as you could be caught in a closed space or in proximity to coughers.
• Avoid anyone who has flu-like symptoms or any location (e.g. schools, nursing homes, hospitals) where virus may be more prevalent.
• Avoid large gatherings and close proximity to groups period.
• At the first sign of flu-like symptoms seek medical help. Get tested and take aggressive treatment.  The sooner treatment begins the greater your survival chances will be.
• Support your immune system with supplemental doses of Vitamin C and Vitamin D3 as mentioned above.

Back in 2013  I published an article titled “Viruses Double Trouble for Civilization” in which I pointed out the similar side-effects of a biological virus epidemic and a wide-spread computer virus or cyberattack. My main point was that the psychological, sociological and economic effects of ether one would be more catastrophic than the immediate effect of the biological or technological virus itself. While the full extent and impact of the Coronavirus outbreak has yet to be determined it is already obvious that my original predictions were accurate.  The US and world stock markets are tumbling, oil stock prices have tanked, and the world’s second largest economy has virtual shutdown. China, being a totalitarian, communist, dictatorship has initiated total control of information disseminated on social media and arrested those who disseminate views critical of the government’s response.  Chines resistance organizations claim that the infection and death tolls are being greatly under reported. Foreign Corporations doing business in China or investing there are rethinking their “global economy” operations as there supply chains are broken. Even if this epidemic is controlled, the effects on the global political and economic community will be immense. The Coronavirus has several aspects that are ideal for ether a natural or man-made epidemic pathogen.

• It is new and there are no known cures or vaccinations on-hand or in the pipeline.
• It spreads from person to person though the air, although it is not known how close contact must be or if it remains on surfaces for any length of time.
• It can be spread from a person who has not yet exhibited symptoms and therefor can contact hundreds of people before the carrier become aware that they are ill.

While authorities reassure the public that this virus is less dangerous than the “ordinary flu”, there drastic measures indicate fear, if not panic. N95 facemasks* are sold out and rationed in China and are in high demand throughout the US. All of Chinas neighbors have closed their border, including even North Korea. In the US, participation in large social and sports gatherings has already started to show decline. While this particular outbreak may or may not result in the catastrophic effects of postulated in my original article (below), it will certainly impact the economic and political climate in many ways. The general disaster preparedness and self-reliance steps advocated by Live Free USA together with the ability to stay home without outside contact for from thirty to sixty days must be attained, and maintained by every responsible family.

Original Text from Our 2013 Article

Virus is a derivative of the Latin word for poison.  This is an accurate description of what its electronic and biological forms can do to life and life as we know it.

Introduction

Even if we put aside the obvious threats of a changing climate, crumbling economy and the decline in food, water and energy supplies, there are two major and highly probable disasters that could end civilization as we know it even as we struggle with these other issues. Both of these threats come from destructive entities known as viruses.  The first danger is from the more traditional biological virus that has plagued (pun intended) civilization for centuries. The second is the more recent term “computer virus” that has very recent origins, but is no less of a threat.  These threats are greatly compounded by the highly populated, centralized and technologically depended society that only developed in the latter half of the 20^th century.

Biological Viruses

For the purposes of this discussion we will include viruses and bacterial forms of infectious disease.

Probability and Sources

Most epidemiologists and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) state that it is just a matter of when not if a massive, worldwide epidemic occurs.  Based on the actions of governmental agencies in planning and stockpiling medications, this is their worst fear.  The combination of population densities and world travel guarantee that any virulent and potent biological agent will spread and be out of control before it is even detected.  The sudden emergence and rapid spread of the Zika virus is indicative of this potential. Plagues in medieval Europe and Asia killed from one to two thirds of the populations before the thinned population and surviving immune systems burned them out.  Modern medications and sanitation systems have reduced the occurrences and severity of plagues for the past few centuries, but these very defenses’ have created the probability of truly widespread and disastrous epidemics in our time.  The combination of an over-populated world located mainly in over concentrated cities and decades of being over protected with disinfectants and over medicated with antibiotics leaves us like a growth medium in a Petri dish with weakened immune systems Any new virus will find a “target rich environment” in today’s populations.  Modern mass transportation means that every one of us comes into contact with the biological residue left by hundreds and thousands of people.  Potential illness and death fly from Europe and Africa, take the buses and the train, ride the elevator and waist on shopping carts, door handles and products.  Of course most of these biological agents are harmless or cause only minor illnesses, but sooner or later (probably sooner) one of them will not be so harmless.  There are millions of unknown viruses and mutations that have not been recognized, much less prepared for that could take root.  Medical laboratories are continuing to experiment with various biological agents in their efforts to cure or treat existing diseases.  Many of these altered viruses would find the human body with no defenses if accidentally released.  Smallpox (Variola Major) was declared “eradicated” in 1980 and inoculations ended, but there are small stocks of the virus kept by the Russians and the US.  There may still be other hidden reserves. We now have a population with no immunities. An accidental release of such material or the deliberate spread of them by some unstable employees could end life as we know it or even life period.  And of course there are the rogue nations and terrorists who already have a variety of potent biological agents available.  Tuberculosis is still common in the third world nations and is highly contagious. Massive refuge populations are now flowing from those places to Europe and America. Many of these people may be carriers.  When you consider the above   realities, it is truly a miracle the biological “big one” has not struck already.  Being involved in the Emergency Medical Systems and community response planning for urban areas, I can tell you that the plans won’t work and they know it.

Impact and Effect

The obvious impact of a wide spread epidemic would be the disablement and deaths of millions or hundreds of millions of people.  Even if we assume a “best case” epidemic of say ten to twenty percent fatalities and fifty to sixty percent disabilities of two to six weeks duration the civilization still collapses and millions more die as a result of violence, starvation, cold, heat, and of other diseases.   Because of our highly dependent and technologically sensitive world, the lack of people to sustain critical systems would quickly demolish order and safety.  No one to respond to fires or police calls.  No-one to keep sanitation pumps, water pumps and electrical systems running.  No-one to deliver food, medications or fuel.  No-one to keep the virtual money in the banking and financial systems from evaporating.  They will all be sick, dead or at least home protecting their own families.

The resulting desperation and shortages will have the cities in flames and the streets like war zones within weeks.  The effects of failed water systems and sanitation (human waste and garbage) will initiate diseases like Cholera, Typhus, Malaria, and a host of other viral and bacterial infections.

* N95 Dust Mist masks are effective protection against most airborne pathogens when worn properly. They are available at most pharmacies and hardware stores.  Live Free USA has constantly recommended them as “every day carry” (pocket or purse) items and stocking a dozen or more at home.

As we enter the year 2020 we can anticipate further political chaos and agitation on the streets of America. It is difficult to predict how violent or widespread civil disorder will be, but it is something most should be prepared for.  Even those living in rural areas can be affected by the economic and social impact of any breakdown in law and order in their region.   The article below was published in Live Free's newsletter last year.  For more detailed survival information on a wide range of topics, we hope you will join. 

We live in an unstable and increasingly unsafe society.  While a sense of normalcy and safety still prevails the indications of societal disintegration and impending social chaos abound.  The sheer multiplicity of negative trends and events constantly weakens our capacity to maintain order and safety.

Increasingly frequent natural and manmade disasters drain our economy and overstretch our emergency response resources. The following list of challenges and trends should convince any responsible citizen that a dark-age of civil chaos and general lawlessness lies ahead.

• The ongoing condemnation and persecution of police and emergency responders will continue to limit their ability to protect the public. Law enforcement officers must be more cautious and hesitant to pursue, detain and subdue suspects. In turn, criminals are more likely to flee, resist or employ weapons against the police.
• Disparagement of the police and disrespect for the law has emboldened criminals of all types. Carjacking’s, street robberies, bank robberies, theft from parked vehicles, burglaries, shoplifting, and other crimes are becoming more rampant each year. The courts often release such criminals on the suspects own recognizant or home monitoring while awaiting trial and then hands down probation or reduced sentences.
• Even so-called “gun crimes” by repeat felons are often given a proverbial “slap on the wrist” punishments or early releases from short prison sentences.
• Smash and grab crimes where multiple criminals use sledgehammers or stolen vehicles to smash through windows or even walls to access valuables and escape before police arrive are more and more frequent in every urban and suburban region.
• Violent crimes against the elderly and even the disabled are popular activities for the criminal class today.
• Drive-by shootings and vehicle-to-vehicle shootouts on our expressways is an increasing trend.
• The ongoing opioid epidemic added to the long-existing drug crisis in America and the world drives more people into the criminal world of gangs, violence and desperation.
• Extremists and mentally deranged are increasingly turning to various forms of violence acts.
• The internet and social-media facilitates flash-mob crimes where dozens of people suddenly overwhelm a store, grab merchandise and then flee before anyone can react. The internet has also made fencing stolen goods much easier and more profitable than before.
• Virtually every social and political issue now generates a demonstration that ties up police resources, disrupts business, blocks traffic and often results in violence or even outright riots and looting. There are whole organizations devoted to supporting any kind of civil disorder and several secretive, national groups that are focused on initiating violence at any type of demonstration.
• The budgets for law enforcement, fire departments, court systems and detention centers are inadequate in most urban areas and will continue to decline in the coming decades. Raising taxes causes law abiding tax payer to flee as does increased crime rates. This leaves only the poorer residents and welfare recipients who pay little or no taxes at all.  Most urban areas are caught in a death spiral of rising taxes, crime, and declining revenues.  This can only lead to instability and potential massive violence.
• The recent 2016 election cycle provided a glimpse of the social/political instability and division. The internet and the mass-media continues to amplify division and support extreme viewpoints as we approach the 2018 and the 2020 elections.  The various sides are already gearing up for a contentious and possibly violent confrontations on many issues. No-matter what the results of these elections may be, we can anticipate violent demonstrations, active resistance and even revolutionary activities that exceed those of the turbulent 1960s and 1970s.

While some of these trends have marked previous times in American history and one or two of them alone could not be expected to generate a general collapse of law-and-order in our society, if continued, the combined effects of these trends may well lead to an unprecedented level of chaos and violence within the next few years. The period of violence and civil disorder generated by the combination of issues and agitation in the late 1960s and early 1970s offers some valuable lessons and examples.  I living in Chicago during these times, I witnessed the causations and effects of the violent events of those times.  The civil-rights movement, the anti-Viet Nam War movement and several other social/political movement were coopted by communists, and special interest groups with dark agendas.  Certainly the Soviet Union financed the more violent groups in order to weaken the United States.  Big financial interests benefited from massive real-estate displacements and public housing developments.  Government agencies grew stronger and more intrusive. So-called revolutionary groups abounded with shooting, looting and bombing culminating in the great riots that destroyed whole communities and initiated a trend towards disrespect, division and crime that continues to this day. At that time America still had a solid middle class and a foundation of shared conservative values that was sufficient to check the slide toward outright revolution and disaster.  The “greatest generation” of citizens who had built America and defeated tyrants and aggressors in World War Two were the dominant population then. Regrettably, today’s population lacks these unifying values and shared sense of responsibility.

The riots and demonstrations of the 1960s and 1970s were contained within the inner-cities and to downtown and government facilities.  While I lived in Chicago during these times and I certainly knew enough to avoid going downtown or through certain areas, life went on as normal for the great majority. Crime and looting did not spill-over into adjoining communities or suburbs.  Although there was real concern that these disruptions could generate a true revolution America was far too strong and unified and these movements eventually (literally and figuratively) burned themselves out.  They did however implant ideas, trends and cultures that have continued to weaken, destabilize and divide American society as we face a new age of internal conflict.

Previously, the dominant social force in America has been conservative, self-reliant, America values that were resistant to any “isum” or extremist views.  This central, law-abiding mass tended to dampen any tendency towards violence.  Unfortunately the dominant tendencies today are dependency oriented, self-centered and disrespectful of society and other individuals. The media and the internet can easily foment nation-wide discontent leading to violence that would affect every community.

Today’s more homogenous communities make it far more probable that any general uprisings will spill into adjoining communities than was true in the 60s and 70s.  Shopping centers in more affluent and “safe” communities will not likely be spared.  Gangs and bands of criminals will not be hesitant to roam widely as police are over-occupied or driven away. This is already evident in the kinds of crime-waves being experienced in most suburban areas now.

Today criminals use google earth to locate affluent homes and shopping centers now and will be able to use this tool along with social-media to organize raids and looting.  No area will be immune to attack during any future outbreak.

Having made my case that law-and-order is already breaking down and could easily degenerate into wide-spread and long-term chaos, let’s consider what steps the responsible citizen can take to survive, avoid or escape from violence ravaged areas.

The survival challenges will differ depending on your location, but there will be no “safe zones”.  Violence and war tends to flow in various ways, so that one part of a town may be ravaged to ruination while another is relatively untouched.  Even in places like Berlin during World War Two or modern day Bagdad there were/are areas relatively untouched and nearly normal, but no-one can assume that their home or community will be spared.  We can predict that some kinds of areas will be more dangerous than others and have different challenges that will require differing preparations and responses. Let’s call them “red zones”, “orange zones” and “yellow zones”.

Red Zones would be inner city, high population density and high value commercial centers where crime rates are already high, gangs have established a solid footing and any disruption to police protection, utilities or support can quickly flash into uncontrollable violence, looting, fires and crime.  The police barley maintain control of such regions today and would be virtually helpless against a general collapse.

• Avoidance and prevention: obviously moving to a safer area will improve survivability, but many citizens have economic, family and social responsibilities that effect our choice of locations. If moving is not an option, then getting involved and working to build a stronger, safer and more stable community is the only way to avoid being caught-up in a societal disaster?  Take action now if you can.
• Preparation and planning: Preparation and planning: Being able to stay off the streets is critical. Having enough food, water, medications and other necessities to ride-out a crisis is your first step to survival in most situations. Red zone residents must give more attention to active defense and the possibility that escape and evacuation will be an unavoidable necessity in their preparation and planning.  Bug-out bags and weapons are a necessity.  Consider discussing mutual defense and aid plans with your neighbors and relatives in advance.
• Active and passive defense: Once civil disorder erupts in your area, you will be forced to take up an armed defensive posture. Blocking doors and windows, establishing a 24/7 watch schedule and having loaded firearms and extra ammunition is justified in such situations.  You should also move all flammables and combustibles away from windows and have plenty of large fire extinguisher on hand as arson and Molotov -cocktails are a favorite tool of insurgents. Do not fire on anyone unless they have initiated action against your home.  Don’t do anything to attract attention.
• Evacuation and escape: In many cases escape from a riot-torn area may be your best and only option. While it may be difficult to abandon your home before you are forced to do so, waiting until you are surrounded and under assault may be too late. Early evacuation may permit you to take more with you and use your vehicle, whereas fleeing at the last-minute may mean doing so on-foot while leaving most of your valuables behind.  You may also want to consider how to hide, secure or even burry items that you cannot take with you to minimized losses if your home is looted or burned.

Orange Zones would usually be communities adjoining the Red Zones, suburbs of major cities, and medium sized towns.  Such areas will have gang presents and local criminals that will seize on opportunities. They have active contacts with the larger Red Zone political extremists and criminal gangs and could facilitate their entry into these communities.  The police forces in such areas are often undermanned, but are dedicated to defending their home towns.

• Avoidance and prevention: You need to analyze the level of risk you face in such areas. Are your neighbor’s responsible citizens or potential threats?  Are you in or near a major commercial center or roadway that will attract looters and criminals? Are there signs of gang presents, drug use and high crime already appearing in your community?   Even a relatively peaceful community may turn into a Red Zone if civil disorder last for more than a few days. Plan accordingly.  Many smaller town and suburban communities have volunteer police auxiliaries and emergency organizations.  It would be beneficial to join and support these groups to strengthen the community and enhance your level of training and awareness.
• Active and passive defense: Assaults and looting is more likely to be hit-and-miss and off-and-on in these areas. Roaming gangs and opportunistic criminals rather than massive mobs will be the main threat.  A well prepared and well-armed citizen may be able to avoid, discourage or drive-off these aggressors. Fences and hedges can help delay or channel assaults away from your home.  Keeping your garage clear enough to actually contain your vehicle out of site is a major advantage.  You must still have a 24/7 watch plan and a well thought out plan for stopping an assault and home invasion by multiple criminals. How close are the adjoining buildings?  Could there occupation by hostile people or their catching fire threaten your safety?  Be prepared to deal with these possibilities.
• Evacuation and escape: While sheltering-in-place is more desirable than evacuation into or through hostile regions, it may still be a forced necessity.  The same principles and tactics for Red Zone evacuations apply, but more routs and options may be available. Think “what if”.

Yellow Zones can be defined as remote small towns and semi-rural areas, away from main highways and commercial centers. While it is unlikely that such locations would initially be the sites of riots or looting they might not be immune to locally generated crimes and acts of violence by individuals and small groups. Drug gangs and extremist groups of all kinds have infiltrated even seemingly peaceful communities. Radicals and criminals are far more mobile than they were decades ago, and isolated and complacent communities could be tempting targets. Such areas often have just a few law enforcement officers who are ill-equipped to handle such threats.

• Avoidance and prevention: Any extended period of civil disorder could result increased, opportunistic criminal activities and roaming gangs endangering residents of outlying communities. Organized community and town defense is a realistic option for such locations. Consider the most likely routs and directions from which threats could appear and de prepared to discourage and reroute potentially dangerous individuals and groups. Organized 24/7 community patrols and response plans will go a long-way in preventing problems.
• Preparation and planning: Generally, being self-reliant and prepared to get by without outside supplies and services for weeks or months will be the main requirement. Community supplies and neighbors helping neighbors is important
• Active and passive defense: Even in the most peaceful communities there are some individuals who will make trouble or commit crimes of opportunity when they think they can get away with it. Identify them in advance if possible. Be vigilant and prepared to deal with attempted robberies, home invasions and other crimes.  A 24/7 watch is advisable when possible.
• Evacuation and escape: If the chaos has reached the point where even small towns and rural areas are unable to maintain public safety things are truly disastrous.  It’s good to have a preplanned place to go and safe route to get there, just in case. At that level of emergency the survival camp and militia-like resistance may be necessary to recover order.

Conclusions

While there are far too many factors in-play to predict when a period of general civil; disorder will develop or how severe and long-lasting such an event will be it seems more likely than not that significant upheavals lie within the next five to ten years or less.  It is also apparent that such developments will impact most communities and that existing law enforcement and emergency response agencies may be inadequate to maintain order, protect the public and prevent looting and property damage. The responsible citizen should be prepared to cope with the challenges of home defense, self-defense, property protection, and if necessary evacuation through hostile surroundings.  Since such situations could also interrupt food supplies, water and electrical services, and access to medical care, the citizen must stock up and build basic survival capabilities as well.  The possibility of massive and enduring periods of civil disorder must be added to the already long list of potential survival challenges that the responsible American citizen of this century must prepare to face unaided if necessary.

The article below appeared in an earlier edition of our American Survivor newsletter.  Social/political conflict can be considered as much of a survival threat as other disaster conditions.  While we cannot predict how events will unfold in the new year, we can be sure that some forms of chaos will develop, that could result in a variety of survival challenges.  Watch our site for further articles, or —better yet, join and and get access to all of our information.  Stay safe. 

While the election of Donald Trump seems to have put support for the self-reliance and survivalist movement into a state of extreme apathy, we are approaching a period of social and political conflict and chaos that could endanger every American’s survival, freedom and right to be self-reliant.  While attendance at preparedness expos is down, every survival periodical (except this one) publication has ceased, and membership in preparedness organizations is declining, none of the serious dangers to survival and freedom have actually diminished.  The economy has improved, but the national debt and other economic issues remain as a time-bomb.  The rest of the world is in an economic and political death-spiral, sending hordes of desperate people fleeing into the remaining few free and safe nations. The frequency and severity of natural disasters continue to increase.  Crime and various forms of terrorism are no less prevalent.  While a conservative, pro-freedom administration is certainly to the advantage of self-reliant citizens, most survival threats are beyond the control of government agencies.  Furthermore: we must anticipate a powerful and possibly violent counter-attack against freedom and self-reliance as the elections of 2020 approach. Special interests and extremists are gearing up for a life-or-death struggle to take back control and impose their agendas on the American public.  We can also be assured that whichever side wins the elections in 2020, the other side will not accept the results.  We can expect massive demonstrations, sabotage, domestic terrorism, economic disruption, and even massive civil disorder and possibly armed combat situations.  The wise survivalist or prepper should be taking advantage of this short period of calm to maximize preparations and organization instead of apathetic procrastination.

  We are already seeing terms like “resistance” and even “revolution” on demonstration signs and in social-media posts. We are also aware of growing militant groups at both ends of the political spectrum, some with definable objectives and values and others simply seeking chaos and power. The following is an examination of the options for a world-be survivor depending on how events develop before, during and after the 2020 elections.

• Resistance: The political left currently uses the term “resistance” to stir-up support for demonstrations against a variety of political actions or for various legislation. As in the 60s, racism and economic inequality are often used as excuses for violence and destruction in the streets.  Of course true resistance movements such as those used against the Nazis in World War Two or the Soviet Occupations throughout the Cold War involved sabotage, assassinations and raids.  Resistance is by definition a counteraction to the existing regime.  So, whoever feels that they are the losers in 2020 are likely to take resistance to a new level in a sustained campaign.
• Counter Resistance: While we see counter demonstrations on some issue, the major counter resistance groups have focused on financial support for candidates and conservative causes. If a robust and violent resistance develops after the election we could see the rise of “Home Guard” and “Militia” groups as a counter to crime and civil disorder.
• Revolutionary Action: Both the extreme left and the extreme right contain armed and trained elements. Gangs might align themselves with left leaning revolutionaries while elements of the military and police might be inclined to support rightwing insurgencies. Such a development is highly unlikely, but not outside the realm of possibility. Actual armed conflict and a breakdown of law-and-order could develop and spread. Urban areas could turn into battle grounds. States could even secede.
• Counter Revolution: If one side is actively trying to overthrow the elected or established regime then actions to resist such an insurgency are counterrevolutionaries. If a revolutionary force has already succeeded in some kind of coup or overthrow by whatever means, then the immediate efforts to prevent the establishment of that regime is counterrevolutionary.

Whether a group or movement is a “resistance”, “counter resistance” “revolution” or “counter revolution”   can depend on ones point of view and the propaganda value of the term.  Depending on how events in the next few years develop, many of us could intentionally or unintentionally find ourselves in one of these categories. Maintaining neutrality may be difficult to maintain.

• Active Neutrality: Even in the most popular revolutions and resistance movements only a fraction of the population is actively involved.  Most just want to survive the conflict while others may wait until they can see how things develop before committing to even minimal support of either side.  Active neutrality may be best summed up in the slogan “Don’t Tread On Me”, but The very act of defending your home and family may force you into a resistance or revolutionary position. When your community or your associates are swept into the conflict, they may take a “with us or against us” attitude.  Neutrality will be particularly hard to maintain.  Active neutrality means taking your own side, alone against both sides.
• Passive Neutrality: It may be possible to simply keep a low profile and avoid contact and commitment throughout a conflict. If you reside in a low density or rural population and have no vested interest in the situation, this may be your first option.  Of course this requires being able to survive the economic disruptions, grid dysfunction, and other challenges until order is restored.

Any involvement in these options should be positive on morally justifiable.  Destruction of property, looting, vandalism, disruption of public services (e.g. food, power, transportation, etc.) must be avoided. It is wrong and will only alienate the public that you need for support. Violence of any kind must be defensive and justifiable. Responsible resistance or revolution could include:

• Active crime prevention when law and order systems are ineffective
• Property protection against illegal seizures, looting, and vandalism.
• Protection of schools, churches, business and political events.
• Border protection if the border defenses have broken down
• Support of the military and police as needed
• Providing medical aid and support for victims of political violence
• Active publicity for your side, including radio, internet and print.

Conclusion

Given to polarization and rhetoric in today’s society, it is difficult to imagine a peaceful election and post-election scenario for two thousand twenty. The current apathy and inactivity within the survivalist and prepper movement is unjustified and a prelude to socioeconomic disruptions in a few years. The wise citizen should be stocking-up, organizing, training and preparing for social and political conflict in addition to the existing threats of natural disasters, economic instability, terrorism and war that continue unabated.   Even if one is able to avoid direct participation in any conflict, the effect on one’s safety, property and liberty will be survival challenges for many citizens.

1. Increase public awareness of the unavoidable economic decline and associated disasters, emergencies, hardships and conflicts that it will generate in the next decades.
2. Proved a variety of educational programs and training events that will help good people adapt to the future challenges and survive the very serious dangers and disasters to come.
3. Build a national network of chapters that can provide improved survival resources for their members and be a framework for community survival, as situations grow more severe.

While the term “sanctuary cities” has been used to describe municipalities that have chosen not to cooperate with the Immigration and Control and Enforcement agency (ICE) in the enforcement of America’s laws, the term sanctuary and the now established concept of defiance of federal laws by local governments may be essential to defending legal citizens against unconstitutional violations of their civil and constitutional rights. Most of the candidates running for the presidency in 2020 are strong advocates of gun confiscation and socialist (anti self-reliance) legislation. Draconian gun-laws and other oppressive actions must be anticipated at the state and national levels within the next one or two years. While effective individual and small-group resistance to such unconstitutional and un-American activities has little chance of success, there is a real potential for effective and successful resistance on the local, county and state levels, through American sanctuary resolutions and legislation.

In states where so-called “Red Flag” laws have been enacted most of the rural and many of the suburban police departments are simply refusing to enforce them. Some towns and counties have official declared themselves to be “Second Amendment Sanctuaries” in defiance of these laws. Many police officers in urban areas are “pro-gun rights” and the great majority of suburban, small-town and rural police officers are second amendment supporters. They are not going to be knocking down doors and serving warrants on their neighbors and law abiding citizens. They are not going to be welcoming or cooperating with invading federal agents who come to confiscate property and criminalize their friends and relatives. How the federal government would react to massive defiance is difficult to estimate, but the more wide-spread and organized the Constitutional Sanctuary movement is, the more likely they will back-down, without actual violent confrontations. B

efore the federal government enacts unconstitutional legislation, constitutional sanctuary towns, counties and states need to be declared and well established as a deterrent or the basses for national resistance. The establishment of scores of sanctuary states, thousands fs sanctuary counties, and hundreds of thousands of sanctuary towns will not only serve to protect the second amendment, but would be a revolutionary power shift away from centralized authority and back to local and state level autonomy. The first American Revolution started when the British acted to confiscate local armaments. The people understood that once they had lost control of their personal, and locally owned weapons, the British could enact and enforce any laws and taxes that they chose with impunity. Today’s elitist, and socialist look down on local governments and despise individualism and self-reliance, but by going after the guns they may be (as the British did in 1776) enabling a unified and dare I say, revolutionary response in the form of a massive establishment of sanctuary territories supported by law-abiding and responsible citizens who want nothing more than to have their constitutional and human rights respected.

An American Constitutional Sanctuary movement could and should be established. This could be an official organization or a cooperative effort by multiple pro-freedom organizations. A few of the activities that such a movement could and should initiate would include:

• Establishing networks between sanctuary and pro sanctuary towns, counties and organization.
• Initiating petition drives to encourage states, counties and municipalities to establish pro-sanctuary declarations or legislation.
• Sponsoring email campaigns to encourage candidates at all levels to sponsor and support sanctuary legislation and declarations.
• Creating publicity campaigns to support the constitutional sanctuary concept and candidates
• As anti-freedom legislation becomes more imminent, demonstrations and even civil-disobedience could be necessary.

While to specter of gun confiscation, higher taxation, regulation and centralization should be disheartening to those of us who value our rights to self-reliance, the impending struggle offers the opportunity to unite, energize and win. While a sanctuary is generally defined as a place of refuge it can also serve a basis for resistance and victory. .

The author would propose that Live Free USA official declare its support for all constitutional sanctuaries and enact a formal declaration at the next Annual Meeting.

In the coming months Live Free USA will be moving forward with several projects and improvements.  The challenges and hazards of the coming years demands that we strengthen our base and expand our membership.  With a larger and more active board of directors we are now able to pursue multiple objectives.

Website Improvement

We are working to creat a more attractive and interactive website with more functions for online members. We also hope to have more activity in the survival medicine, chapter activities, and other specialized pages. We are also exploring ways to offer discounts to members who purchase survival gear through the site.

Chapter and Affiliated Organization Support

One of our directors will function as the Chapter, Affiliate Coordinator, regularly communicating with each chapter and providing support and and involvement.  A Chapter Leaders handbook will be available by early 2020 and maybe a regular Chapter Leaders online newsletter.to follow.

Permanent Survival Training Facility

A land-site in northern Indiana is being developed as a site to conduct advance survival and self-reliance training operations.  This site should be available in early 2020. The site will include campsites, sanitary facilites, a traing building, and a rifle and pistol range. We are seeking donations and pledges to help us make improvements and maintain the facility.

Added Value to Membership

 A members Handbook will be available by the end of 2019.  The book wil include information about Live Free organization and philosophy, but will also containe valuable survival information.   It will be available online free and a printed version will be available at nominal cost.  We may increase membership fees slightly and include the handbook with all new memberships. Other ideas are being considerd to add value to membership.

Expanded Survival Instructors and Programs

Camp Independence will continue at Tippecanoe River State Park in Indiana, but may be franchised to other locations throughout the USA.  We also plan to revive our Certified Survival Instructors program to develop new instructors and support current instructors.

Opportunities to Get Involved

We currently have two opening for Directors to the Board of Directors.  These posted can be filled by designation by the board untill the next election.  Filling these posts will definitely help us reach the above goals. Additionally the board is authorized to designate Deputy Directors and establish teams to work on projects.  We would welcome hearing from members new and old who want to get involved and active. Since we now use the internet and online meetings it is not necessary for officers to reside in any nearby location.

THANK YOU to all of our wonderful speakers, donors, and volunteers!
Your participation, generosity, and expertise shared, helped to create another successful Camp Independence that was enjoyed by all attending.

Congratulations to Angela Sander,
winner of the Infinity Solutions Pistol Class.

The following article is reprinted with permission from The Real Survivalists at https://therealsurvivalists.com A British survivalist website. Be aware that survivalism is now and always has been an international movement.  After all, what can be more universal than the need to protect one’s self and one’s family from harm?  Live Free USA operated as Live Free International for a while back in the late 1980’s.  We had members in Britain, France, Australia, Belgium and a few other countries. Back then we were united by the universal concern of nuclear Armageddon. In the post-Cold War era there was a period of denial and confusion that decimated the survivalist movement for a decade. The concerns for survival and freedom today are different, but no less serious, and survivalism is again a world-wide movement facilitated by the internet.  While Live Free “USA” focusses on those concerns that are unique to us, we need to reach out and network beyond our borders as well.  Perhaps there is a place for a new Live Free International or International Survivalist Union in the future?

Prepping in the UK is becoming more of a common occurrence. With all of the goings on in the world, it is probably not much of a surprise that more and more people are becoming involved in Prepping in the UK.

Prepping in the UK can be a controversial subject. Many people will see prepping as something only paranoid people do. This is not a fair summary. Most UK Preppers have regular full time jobs, are everyday people who just want the best for their family. They see prepping as an insurance policy against whatever may come their way.

What is Prepping in the UK?

Prepping is a term used to describe preparing to survive multiple forms of life changing events. These events could be a very personal emergency such as job loss, house fire etc. or they could be world changing events such as weather phenomena, illness epidemic and similar. The level to which you prepare is based on how likely you think the event is to happen. Prepping in the UK involves creating a supply of everything you need to sustain life should one of these events occur. This usually means storing enough food and water to keep you alive for a set period of time and enough equipment to top up your supply once your initial one runs out. It is not just about physical supplies either. Many UK Preppers have a vast knowledge of basic survival skills such as fire lighting, shelter building, hunting etc. First aid and medical skills tend to be key skills that UK Preppers are proficient at.

Why do people prep?

This is a tough question to answer as all Preppers have their own individual reasons for starting to prepare for the worst. Some will start prepping as a result of all of the negative stories in the media surrounding terrorism, nuclear weapons etc. Others will start because of personal concerns about their local area regarding safety and preparedness. And other Preppers begin as a natural progression from their interest in survival and bushcraft.

Each person who has started Prepping in the UK will have their own reasons for prepping. Whatever the reason, this is certainly an interest that is growing.

Prepping in the UK vs Prepping in America

A lot of people will see shows like Doomsday Preppers which is filmed in America and think that all Preppers are the same. American Prepping can be very different to Prepping in the UK. For example, quite a few American Preppers will have a selection of firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition. They believe they need this to protect themselves should the worst happen. Other American Preppers have vast supplies in underground bunkers and are almost excited at the prospect of the Apocalypse. While this isn’t the case for all American Preppers, it tends to be this persona that is shown on this type of TV show. Prepping in the UK tends to be a bit more reserved.

UK Preppers tend to have food and water supplies, first aid and medical gear and a selection of useful survival tools. Weapons are harder to own in the UK so maybe that is why Preppers here do not usually store too many. However it could be that the attitude towards weapons is very different in the UK. Guns and knives are mostly seen as tools here opposed to weapons so we have a different outlook on them when it comes to Prepping.

How do I start Prepping?

Prepping is a very personal thing. A huge supply of tools is not needed before you can call yourself one. You could argue that having a life insurance policy makes you a Prepper. You are making sure your family is looked after should the worst happen to you. This is effectively prepping.

Being a Prepper is all about doing a realistic assessment of the events that could happen to you. Once you have a list of possible events and consequences, you can then start preparing for each one. You do not need to spend huge amounts of money on the latest survival kits and equipment wither. Prepping is about being adaptable and creative with the tools you have available so you can start prepping today if you feel the need to!

Go to https://therealsurvivalists.com  the site has a lot of good information and a bit of a different perspective.

It has been 242-years since the original American Revolution.  The Civil War was a geopolitical split rather than a systemic revolution.  There was certainly a lot of “revolutionary” activity during the late 1960s and early 1970s, but these movements were limited to a small segment of the population.  During these decades the vast majority of the population still shared a set of common values in a stable economy. The “Greatest Generation” that had recently made America great and defeated brutal and dictatorial aggressors was the dominant and stable force in American society at that time.  The radical communist and anarchist forces that seemed to define those decades literally and figuratively, burned themselves out.  However, many of these extremists and their divisive ideologies infiltrated our institutions and society.  A recent issue of Smithsonian magazine headlined 1968 “The Year That Shattered America” and contained a series of articles about the events and movements of those times.  While those times may not have actually “shattered” America, they left a collection of cracks that have grown and expanded to this day.

The United States Government is the oldest and most stable government in the world today.  All of the governments of Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle-East have fallen and risen several times while the USA has stood and prospered.  While many American attribute this to our values and the genius of our Constitution there are other factors that have historically contributed to our stability.

• America has maintained a relatively homogeneous population. While absorbing significant numbers of legal immigrants from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, America was still expanding in available land, jobs and resources.  There were certainly conflicts, paranoia and prejudices, but it did not truly divide the nation.
• America was generally isolated from foreign influences, religious extremists and political influences and threats. Ethnic and religious hatreds did not migrate into American society as dramatically as they do now.
• America maintained strong values of community, responsibility, self-reliance and patriotism regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. We were Americans first.
• While there were natural inequities in wealth distribution they were not nearly as extreme as they are today. A large, contented and socially responsible middle class still existed.
• America and Americans were not subject to the constant divisive and toxic effects of the internet and social media.

None of these stabilizing factors are true today. Multi-ethnic societies are inherently unstable.  There is no longer an unlimited amount of real-estate, resources or jobs to absorbed even internal population growth.  We are involved with and influenced by divisive and confusing foreign involvements and intrigues. Today’s American is more self-centered, dependency-oriented and less involved in community than any previous generation.  The decades of centralized, big government have replaced responsibility with demanding, demonstrating and blame finding.  The gap between the poor and the ultra-wealthy is disgraceful and growing. The internet now facilitates division rather than unity, conflict rather than discussion and even violence in place of the political process.  Respect for the law and for American values has all but disappeared in many regions.  These are harbingers of future revolutionary developments.

There is a growing number of religious, racial and political elements that are quietly preparing for such a catastrophe.  There is a line in an old movie* about South American revolutions.  The General storms into the presidential palace proclaiming “El Presidente, the rebels are in the suburbs!” to which the dictator says “the rebels are always in the suburbs”. We are becoming more like one of these “Banana Republics”

Effects of Revolutions

With the notable exception of the American Revolution, very few revolutions have ever turned out the way the revolutionaries expected or hoped for.  Ask the Cuban’s or the Russians, or anyone from South America or the Middle East.  While they may start out with high ideals, they usually are co-opted by the most ambitious and brutal participants to create a more corrupt and oppressive state than the one it replaced.  There is an old joke that says that the first thing a successful revolutionary leader must do is kill all of the revolutionaries. If a revolution fails it justifies greater oppression and brutality by the state.

• Revolutions can also degenerate into civil wars that divide the state into warring regions. When this happens, the chances for restoring peace and unity are almost non-existent.
• Wide-spread demonstration can lead to the development of terrorism and even guerilla warfare that plagues the nation and destroys safety and security for generations. The Balkans and the Middle East are prime examples of permanently broken societies and civilizations
• Those who instigate a revolution usually anticipate a quick and clean overthrow. Usually the revolutions are long, divisive and brutal, ruining the nation’s economy and destroying homes, towns and cities.
• Foreign enemies and opportunists insert themselves into revolutions to provide weapons and even “volunteers” to various sides, increasing the level of death and destruction and prolonging the conflict. The longer and more devastating the fighting is, the more power and money they get.

In short: revolution is not a good idea if it can be avoided.

Precursors of Revolution

While conditions appear to be relatively stable as of this date, historically revolutions tend to erupt without much warning when a combination of long simmering disagreements and discontent are ignited.  A few precursors that could set the stage for revolution-like developments include:

• Continued unchecked expansion of violent and non-violent crime leading to a loss in public confidence and trust in the police and further trends towards vigilantes and private security networks.
• Any pervasive economic down-turn generating large-scale unemployment.
• Significant reductions in welfare, social-security, and other benefits.
• Political assassination and violence between political organizations.
• Raids and thefts from armories and gun stores.
• Any extreme shift in government policies either left or right resulting in deprivations, confiscations, or oppressive measures.
• Contested and contentious elections marked by threats, demonstrations and violence.

It is difficult to predict what kind of events will transpire between now and the 2020 elections, but chaos and conflict seem inevitable. It seems doubtful that ether side will accept the results of an election without active resistance.  It is highly possible that there will be more than two parties and that we could have a president and legislature elected without a majority mandate.  Instead of complacent inaction, survivalists should be taking this opportunity to focus on preparing for the hazards of 2019 and 2020.

Surviving a Revolution

Surviving during a revolution can be a tricky business.  You have to cope with the effects of the violence on your basic safety and security while trying to stay on the right side or neutral in the conflict. Sustained revolutionary activities may result in a breakdown in law-and-order, sabotage or cessation of services such as running water, food deliveries, fire protection and medical care.  The fundamental preparedness procedures that permit you to shelter in place or evacuate remain paramount, but defensive and even paramilitary equipment and preparations take on increased importance.  The choices of survival tactics will depend on your political, economic and geographic environment at the time of any uprising.  A few possibilities include:

• You may be able to adopt a neutral position of defensive non-involvement. You do not aggressively take sides but will defend your home and family against any attempted pillaging or violence.
• If your community is predominantly sympathetic to one side or is simply forced to resist threats from a particular element, then you may have no choice but to actively participate in revolutionary or resistance activities.
• If local, state or federal agencies are overthrown or find it expedient to suspend liberties, confiscate property or initiate mass arrests citizens may have no choice except to resist or escape.
• History tells us that revolutions can generate high levels of violence and neighbor-against-neighbor animosity that must be avoided and survived by each person and family pragmatically.

Keeping your mouth shut, your eyes open and your powder dry is always a good maxim for surviving such turbulent times.

Conclusion

While I still regard revolution or revolution-like development as unlikely and undesirable, I can no longer exclude them from the list of “potential” survival threats. My study of history and observation of recent past and current events suggests that our nation is much less stable than in past decades.  If the current trends of divisiveness, violence and discontentment continue the specter of revolutionary activities and even the fall of our way of life must be recognized.  Responsible citizens must resist the temptation to be guided and motivated by media and internet divisive rhetoric and exhortations.  We must do all we can to support responsible law enforcement, and community based volunteer organizations.   But we must also plan and prepare to survive the effects of any kind of civil disorder, sabotage, crime and even revolution that may lie ahead.

Ultimately, gun rights are about the right to life and freedom.  There is no point in talking about emergency preparedness, survival and self-reliance for an unarmed population.

Live Free USA began as a shooting club in the late 1960s.  By the 1970s guns and gun ownership was under such assault that being a “gun club” in Chicago was impossible. It is probably impossible for any of our readers now to comprehend the level of harassment, persecutions, prosecution and prohibitions imposed on us in those times. It seemed inevitable that we would be forced to use muzzle loaders and cross-bows in defense of our lives and our freedoms. The NRA at that time was not a political force and liberals ran rough-shod over the constitution and anyone who sought to exercise the second amendment rights.  Live Free broadened our activities to include survival education and civil-defense while keeping our gun related activity’s underground.  The acceptability of shooting sports, concealed-carry and military-style rifles today has been achieved through decades of struggle.  Since there are many great gun-rights advocacy groups today, Live Free focuses on our core survival and self-reliance mission, but remembering that the capacity for armed defense and resistance is an essential part of survival and self-reliance, I will enumerate some of our positions related to the issue of so-called military-style rifles that have been so maligned in recent weeks.

The ownership of so-called, military-style rifles with high-capacity magazines has nothing to do with hunting or sports shooting. It’s about citizens maintaining the potential to resist foreign or domestic subjugation and oppression.  This does not imply that owners of such weapons are revolutionary, extremists or members of formal militias. They consciously or subconsciously accept the reality that the freedom and security of their families and future generations depends on maintaining the balance of force between the state and the people.  Owners of these weapons have the upmost respect for the laws and the government, but they do so by choice and responsibility, not by fear and submission.

The major difference between the way American citizens think and the way subjects of other countries think originates from the fact that most other peoples were granted their liberties by the state and still believe that power flows from the state, while Americans fought for their freedoms and know that they are the ultimate source of freedoms and authority.  This difference in origins creates an instinctual propensity to be armed or have access to arms that is not shared by citizens of other nations. It is no coincident that America has the oldest government on the planet and the most individual freedoms.

Ultimately: the right to keep and bear arms” is an extension of the human right to self-protection that exists regardless of written laws.  It follows that one must have the means to exercise that right.  One cannot be expected to defend oneself against an armed assailant or an oppressive despot with anything less than what that assailant or oppressor may have. We could not exercise the right to free speech if we were limited to old printing presses while the government controlled the mass media and the internet.  We could not exercise freedom of religion if it was limited to only ancient texts and methods.  So we cannot effectively exercise the right to keep and bear arms if we are limited to anything less than the best and most modern equipment.

The constitution does not say “hunting being a necessity”, it does not say “the ability to resist crime being important” it says “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed”.  There is no ambiguity in this sentence. The second amendment is about military-style arms.  We are guaranteed the right to own, keep and bear military-style arms by the constitution.  The term “regulated” in the eighteens century was defined as well managed or well-maintained, but not regulated by law as the word is used today. The final four words “shall not be infringed” specifically prohibits any form of taxation or governmental action that interferes with this essential right.  The founders did use the generic term ”arms” even though the contemporary “arms” were muzzle-loading muskets and swords.  In fact they were referring to the “military-style” weapons of that time, but these were intelligent, forward thinking man who anticipated advancements and certainly wanted future citizens to “keep and bear” arms that would be equal to those of criminals, invaders and would-be tyrants of the future.

The missus of a right by a few does not justify the prohibition of that right to others.  Trading freedom and responsibility for safety is the poorest bargain a people can make.  Ask the Russians, or the Chines, or the North Koreans or the Mexicans or anyone from a hundred oppressed, depressed and crime-ridden nations that we do not want to live in. The loss of lives caused by a few evil and mentally-ill individuals is truly tragic, but cannot justify turning our back on the freedoms that were bought with the lives and sacrifices of generations of veterans.  Yes, they died for the second amendment as well as our other freedoms and surrendering any of those freedoms is a betrayal of their sacrifices.

In a world spiraling towards increasing political strife, civil disorder, street crime, economic instability, potential epidemics, increasingly severe disasters and terrorist activities, only the most irresponsible and pacified citizen can fail to see their duty to be prepared to meet violent situations in the future.  While the anti-gun movement may be lead (or mislead) by the youth, it is those between the ages of 15 and 25 that may most regret no having access to military-style weapon and ammunition just a few decades in the furfure.  In fact one may want to consider purchasing additional such arms and ammunition to be stored and distributed in the future to the next generations that may desperately need them.

  In Short:  Any action that limits the access to modern, effective military-style firearms to law abiding citizens of the United States is specifically unconstitutional, philosophically un-American, and functional dangerous to the future of life and freedom for us all.   

• We started without any support or sponsorships at all and the members themselves could not afford much in the way of contributions until much later.
• We had no lawyers, accountant’s businessmen, or other professionals to help us build the organization. Most groups have a lot of pro-bono help.  Most groups have members taking care of the website, tax documents and other issues, we do not.
• We have no sponsors or significant donations and have never received any kinds of grants.
• Telling folks that they need to prepare for some bad times is not necessarily popular. Unless there has been a recent disaster or serious scare event interest and support drops.
• Although we are classified as a “public charity” by the IRS we don’t get any of the support that a group like the Red Cross or Boy Scouts will receive. In fact we get less than $100.00 per year in contributions even though we conduct our education programs for free.
• Other than memberships and a few book sales we have no solid financial support system.
• When membership increases and/or activities multiply, the same few volunteers get overloaded and we are forced to reduce operations when we should be increasing them.
• We have no actual headquarters, office or training facility from which to efficiently expand operations and house a staff. Only a major grant or contribution will address this issue.
• We have a lot of training equipment and supplies and there are some bequests that may come to Live Free in the years to come, but the equipment may need to be disposed of if they are not going to be used, and the organization must still exist for the bequests to be made in the future.

I welcome everyone's suggestions and participation as we go forward.  Please consider  attending our 50th Annual Meeting on March 24th at 1:00 PM in Cabela's Conference Center in Hammond IN. 

More Surprises and the Spiral.

The Subject of our July/August issue was “Surprise Disaster”. Does four major hurricanes and two major earthquakes in the same region in the same month qualify? Other recent American Survivor headline topics included “Severe Weather”, and “Descent into Chaos”. We seem to be right on target with our materials. I was looking at a 1970s copy of our newsletter and the headline was “The Coming Age of Terrorism”. Prophetic. Too bad that so few people read our publications.

The recent multiple disasters verifies our predictions about a disaster to catastrophe spiral. There is no such thing as recovery once the magnitude and quantity of disaster outpaces the resources and economies of the civilization. The emergency management agencies were exhausted. The Red Cross was forced to recruit literately off the street to get help. The public’s ability to provide contributions dwindled as each new demand occurred. State and national governments were forced further into debt. Housing prices are predicted to rise as material and labor goes towards replacing home instead of building new ones. Puerto Rico’s utility companies had already field for bankruptcy before the hurricanes struck. All of the funds from “recovery” and response must come from infrastructure improvements, security and safety agencies and from maintenance of the very systems that protect us from the next disaster. This spiral of more disasters, less capability and a weakening economy is unlikely to take us to a safe and prosperous future.

Thank you to all of our wonderful donors and participants who helped to make the Camp Independence 2018 Raffle a tremendous success!

Congratulations to Sun Oven Winner Sheila Hawkins

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